In these unprecedented times, states have had to make decisions on how best to handle public safety. For the state of California, this has meant employing distance learning for schools since the quarantine first started in March 2020. All high school sports were also shut down due to health guidelines; most fall sports have still not resumed. With the last day for regional and state football championships slated to end in April under the new California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) calendar, time appears to be running out for football players.

Students Nicholas Gardinera of Scripps Ranch High School and Cameron Woolsey of Mission Hills High School decided that San Diego County was not providing adequate reasons for the continuing bans and brought a lawsuit naming the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom, San Diego County, and the public health official Dr. Wilma Wooten as defendants.

Gardinera and Woolsey—both football players—argue that in 47 other states, high school sports have been allowed to resume. California is one of only 17 states that did not allow football to play during the fall season. This led Gardinera and Woolsey to believe that there is not a correlation between allowing high school sports to resume and spikes in COVID-19. 

For many high school athletes, it is important to make a strong showing in their last year as it is a pivotal time for both recruiters and scholarships as students go on to college and collegiate sports. As a result, time is especially running out for seniors as the school year draws to a close, with the CIF stating that for the season to play out, games would need to begin in March.

Furthermore, professional and collegiate sports teams have long been able to practice and hold competitions as long as certain protocols are followed. The protocols include social distancing, mask-wearing, testing, and contact tracing. Notably, the suit mentions the San Diego-based Major League Baseball team, the San Diego Padres, which was allowed to continue with the professional season and practices. On the collegiate end, both the San Diego Aztecs and University of San Diego Toreros’ basketball teams have been allowed to continue with their seasons. 

“If a sport is safe for college students to play when following certain protocols, it is no less safe were high school student athletes to follow these same protocols,” stated the lawsuit, comparing the continued playing of professional sports with the shutdown of most high school sports. 

Governor Gavin Newsom has already allowed cross country athletes to resume training, but he seemed to be hesitant to give answers to the fate of contact sports like football. Only time will tell if these student athletes will have the time to get back on the field.

Questions like when to resume sports are going to grow in number as vaccine distribution begins to be rolled out to more of the population. It is important for schools to reopen, yet the danger of coronavirus is ever-present with California averaging around 6,000 new cases per day and having around 3.5 million cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.

However, there are no easy answers to this question. The decision as to whether to resume sports and school has to be done meticulously, especially as around 3 million student athletes’ health and happiness lie in the balance. 

Photo courtesy of TWITTER.COM