If I were a high school football player today, I’d want to play – and I’m pretty sure my parents would’ve let me.
How do I know this?
During two-a-day summer practices before my sophomore season, a football player at my Long Island high school collapsed on the field and died of heat exhaustion, and my parents didn’t stop me then.
But what if I had a high-school-aged son now, during the worst pandemic in more than 100 years, and he wanted to play football?
Would I let him play? Would I risk him becoming infected by COVID-19, knowing he’d almost certainly survive any accompanying illness – and might not get sick at all – but not knowing if he’d experience any health issues later in life?
Probably, yes.
That’s not the answer I would’ve given you a week ago, when I was steadfast in my belief that it was irresponsible, even reckless, to allow high school kids to play football during a pandemic and risk not only their health but further spread of the virus in our community.
You’ve got linemen exerting themselves in close proximity – their faces only inches apart when they’re blocking or trying to fend off those blocks – breathing heavily on each other and often exchanging blood, sweat and saliva.
You’ve got ball carriers being tackled, sometimes by two or more defenders. You’ve got multiple-player pileups when a ball is fumbled. You’ve got players huddling with their teammates between plays and around their coaches during timeouts.
You’ve got no social distancing, which means players will become infected, which means they can’t play or practice – nor can any teammates who came in close contact with them.
Which means games will be canceled.
We’ve already seen that happen at Vero Beach High School, where a significant number of football players, including a majority of starters on defense, were among 46 students forced into a two-week quarantine last week after a student tested positive for the coronavirus.
That one infection forced Vero Beach football coach Lenny Jankowski to cancel the team’s season-opening game, which was scheduled for tomorrow at Venice.
“I really believe that our players are fine, but we’re always going to err on the side of caution and student safety,” Jankowski said, adding that none of his non-infected, quarantined players have gotten sick. “It’s unfortunate we had to cancel the game, but it was bound to happen.”
And it’s likely to happen again.
On the island, in fact, St. Edward’s School officials postponed the start of fall football practice until this week, using the delay to further assess the risk to students before embarking on a season already shortened by the virus.
The risk, though, remains the same – and for the same reasons.
Teenagers are social animals, and it’s difficult to get them to distance themselves from their friends, especially at school. They’ve been told the coronavirus doesn’t pose much of a threat to young people. Even if it did, kids that age tend to believe they’re invincible.
No one should be surprised, then, if another football game gets canceled, either because Vero Beach or one of its remaining opponents has players under virus-related quarantine. It’s also fair to wonder if, at some point, the pandemic will shut down the season.
But if more players test positive – if players in quarantine force the cancellation of more games, possibly the season – will football be to blame?
Or to be more precise: Are high school football players at greater risk of infection than their classmates?
Maybe not.
Contrary to what I believed before my lengthy conversation last week with Jankowski – one of the state’s top coaches and Vero Beach’s athletic director – I’m no longer convinced that playing football significantly increases the risk of kids getting infected.
At least not here.
Jankowski and his staff are taking this pandemic seriously, embracing every possible precaution to keep their players healthy on the field, in meetings, even in the locker room.
“I’ve read through all the guidelines we’ve been given, and we have a great full-time trainer who makes sure everyone is following them so that we’re doing everything we can to protect the kids,” Jankowski said. “But, sure, it has presented some challenges.
“Our summer workouts, which are normally so routine I can plan them in my sleep, took four hours of planning.”
Jankowski’s coronavirus adjustments, however, weren’t as drastic as they could’ve been.
“Anyone who has been to our practices, even before COVID, knows that we move quickly,” he said. “Our practices run really fast, broken down into 10-minute periods, so the kids are never going to be in someone else’s face for more than a few seconds.
“Even when we scrimmage, the average play lasts only four to six seconds.”
Also, Jankowski and his coaching staff call offensive and defensive plays from the sideline – and have for years – so players don’t huddle, further reducing face-to-face interaction.
One noticeable change was in the locker room, where lockers are now assigned by position, with players who play the same position at least six lockers apart. That helps, Jankowski said, because “we have meetings by position, so when one group is meeting in the locker room, the players are socially distanced. We also try to socially distance as much as possible when we’re in meeting rooms.”
He paused for a moment, then added: “Our players and their parents appreciate the measures we’re taking to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
And they should.
But Jankowski can’t control his players’ environment after practice ends and they leave school grounds.
He can’t stop them from squeezing into already-crowded vehicles, sharing drinks or food, or socializing with friends. He can’t force them to abide by social-distancing recommendations when indoors in public places or wear masks when that’s not possible. He can’t be there to remind them to wash their hands.
“I’ve heard every different viewpoint on this virus, and I’m not going to tell you it’s not real,” said Jankowski, who last week alerted Vero Beach football fans that crowds at this season’s home games will be limited to 1,000 to encourage social distancing.
“My goal is to make this happen for our seniors and their parents, if we can do it safely, and I think we can,” he added. “I don’t believe that football, or athletics in general, is going to spread this thing.
“That’s my biased opinion.”
My unbiased opinion has changed since a week ago.
Kids who choose to play high school football during a pandemic are putting themselves at risk, and some of them probably will test positive for COVID. Some might get infected playing football.
But are kids who play high school football putting themselves at significantly greater risk than their non-playing classmates?
Probably not.
