I had to laugh Thursday when Gov. Tom Wolf made some nonsensical statements about how high school cross country meets are dangerous and could lead to the spread of COVID-19 because of the number of fans and parents “congregating at the finish line.”
Oh sure, that’s the problem, those large crowds at cross country meets. Statements like that from the governor lead me to believe he is either arrogant or completely out of touch with reality.
Let’s get real on this, though: Kids are playing sports already. They have been playing sports all summer long, and the health experts have all had to concede there hasn’t been any troublesome virus spikes as a result of it. And kids will continue to play sports with or without the blessing of the PIAA and the governor, who has strongly recommended that recreational and interscholastic sports in Pennsylvania be postponed until Jan. 1.
If the only options for teenagers to play sports are clubs, travel leagues, AAU organizations and other privately run enterprises, we are opening a far bigger can of worms. There is nobody regulating any of those offline, travel and AAU leagues. There are no uniform health standards, no monitoring or guarantees of COVID-19 safety protocols. Is rogue leagues taking the lead what the governor really wants? I think not, which is why it is incumbent of him to work with the PIAA, an organization that has already mandated safety measures and can be monitored.
Also, if there are no high school sports this fall and the only outlets are AAU and club sports, then only those who can afford to pay to play will get to do so. The PIAA ensures everyone, regardless of how rich or poor they are, can have the same opportunities to play, and that’s something we should promote.
Maybe it isn’t safe to play football, though there isn’t much hard data to prove this. But cross country? Golf? Tennis? Baseball and softball?
Wolf isn’t interested in showing real leadership when it comes to youth and high school sports. True leadership says “Let’s find a way,” not “It can’t be done, and that’s that.” True leadership works with people in the trenches and works to understand why some are fighting so hard to try and make sure kids can play sports this fall.
Officials from governor’s office and PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi will now reportedly meet Friday afternoon, but during that news conference Thursday, Wolf conceded he hadn’t even read the letter sent to him from the PIAA asking for a discussion and laying out a plan to safely conduct fall sports.
Mind you, this wasn’t the West Ingomar Little League that sent a letter to Wolf; it was the PIAA, the governing body of Pennsylvania’s high school sports. The PIAA has 567 schools from all of Pennsylvania’s counties and every nook and cranny all across the state. According to the National Federal of State High School participation statistics, there are a little more than 119,000 boys and girls who participated in fall sports in 2018-19 (the latest year data is available). That is just fall sports, too, so do the math on how many Pennsylvanians have a vested interest in high school sports.
Wolf continues to talk about how his focus is education. If that were the case, he would acknowledge that sports, activities and clubs are all a large part of the education process for kids.
The governor also needs to understand there are an increasing number of studies showing high school athletes are dealing with depression, anxiety and all kinds of other mental health crisis because of this pandemic. That is real, and sports are a very important part of the development of many teens. They keep kids out of trouble and off the streets and provide many teens with an avenue to college. There are a whole host of reasons why blanket policies or recommendations are far more harmful than whatever it is they think we are being protected from.
Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com and Twitter @PaulZeise
First Published: August 14, 2020, 4:15 p.m.
