Let there be no doubt: High school football can be played in the time of COVID.
I know this because, well, I was there – Friday night on Billy Livings Field at the 6,000-seat Citrus Bowl, where I watched Vero Beach crush visiting Port St. Lucie, 35-0, to extend its state-record, regular-season win streak to 63 games.
Yes, the season-opening crowd was noticeably smaller, as Vero’s celebrated “12th man” was limited to 1,000 spectators, most of them parents or students, all of whom were required to wear face coverings and asked repeatedly to socially distance.
The Fighting Indians Marching Band, usually as much a part of the show as the football team, was relocated to the after-sunset darkness behind the east end zone, where folding chairs were placed several feet apart to abide by social distancing recommendations.
The coaches and on-field officials wore masks.
All things considered, however, the “Senior Night” setting was about as normal as could be expected during a pandemic as Vero Beach embarked on what the stadium’s public-address announcer called “a season like no season we’ve ever seen.”
For those who didn’t’ know: The Fighting Indians were forced to cancel their scheduled season opener at Venice on Sept. 11 because many of their players were among 46 students placed under coronavirus quarantine for 14 days.
But how long will this season last?
I ask that question because, well, I was there – walking the home-team sideline Friday night and observing the behavior of players, cheerleaders and spectators, too many of whom showed too little concern about a virus that continues to force dozens of students in our school district to be quarantined.
I saw players standing or sitting close to each other on the sideline. I saw cheerleaders standing only a couple of feet apart as they performed. I saw spectators who were bunched too closely together, particularly those seated in the sections between the 40-yard lines, and not wearing their masks properly, if at all.
The worst offenders, though, were the students, especially those who stood shoulder to shoulder in the front few rows at the east end of the home stands, many of them with their masks pulled down under their chins.
The PA announcer tried, reminding the crowd on several occasions to wear masks and socially distance. Throughout the first half, school officials and local police approached unmasked spectators and asked them to comply.
The enforcement effort, however, was all but abandoned in the second half.
We’ll soon find out if the gathering, as limited as it was, contributed to the spread of the virus in our community, and whether any real damage was done to the public’s health.
Let’s hope that’s not the case.
“I didn’t get up into the crowd too much, but the fans seemed to be into it,” Vero Beach football coach and athletics director Lenny Jankowski said after the game. “Once the game started, it was all about playing football.”
As it should be.
It’s the adults’ job to deal with the pandemic, and that’s what Jankowski and his assistants continue to do – arranging practices and implementing protocols to try to keep the players healthy. I assume the same efforts are being made with Vero Beach’s band members and cheerleaders.
“We want to have a season,” Jankowski said, “especially for our seniors and their parents.”
Can we?
It appears so, although even Jankowski warns that any of the remaining games on the schedule could be postponed or canceled days before kickoff, if players on either team test positive for the coronavirus.
There’s a huge difference, however, between CAN high school football be played during a pandemic – one that has killed 200,000 Americans, including more than 100 in our community – and SHOULD high school football be played during a pandemic.
We know high school football can be played here because we’ve seen it. As for whether high school football should be played here in the time of COVID, I’d like to say, “Yes.”
I’d like to believe the precautions and protocols embraced by coaches and players make it safe, or at least reduce the chances of infection to a point where football players are at no greater risk than their classmates who don’t play.
I’d like to see all our schools’ football teams successfully get through their seasons, including game nights. But that’s not going to happen unless the adults – spectators, school officials and police – take the lead in fending off this pandemic.
I was there Friday night, and it’s difficult to feel good about much of what I saw. So, I have my doubts.