Many area athletes support playing high school sports in fall
Aaron Panczyk
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
John Grogan
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Marra Bruce is expected to be one of the top singles players in the WPIAL this fall. The Peters Township sophomore won a WPIAL and PIAA doubles title with her partner, Kat Wang, last season.
Area athletes, coaches and administrators are responding ardently to Gov. Tom Wolf’s recommendation high school sports be delayed until Jan. 1, 2021.
Many want to keep fall sports on schedule and not played in the spring.
“You can’t have tennis in January when it’s snowing and we can’t share our season with the boys because there wouldn’t be enough courts. It wouldn’t work,” said Peters Township sophomore tennis player Marra Bruce.
If fall sports are postponed, however, Bruce said she would play tennis in the spring.
“It’s not the best idea,” she said, “but I would do it. To me, though, I feel like our season is in the fall. Besides, it’s tennis. You are already social distancing.”
Peters Township golf coach David Kuhn sees similarities in tennis and golf for the athletes’ ability to remain socially distant. He said current and former players of his have competed in tournaments since the state opened up in June.
Events from the PGA to junior tournaments have been held throughout the summer.
“If anybody can play, it’s golf,” Kuhn said. “Certainly tennis. Potentially cross country. Obviously safety is the concern for all involved, but golf is the ultimate socially distancing sport.”
Kuhn and Bruce said hand shakes and high-fives have been eliminated in both sports.
“You may have to be a little more careful with doubles. Use your rackets,” Bruce said of celebrations. “There are little things you can do to keep the virus from spreading, but don’t cancel the season.
“Golf and tennis are not an issue,” she added. “I understand football and contact sports.”
Football faces the biggest obstacles to keeping athletes healthy, but Mt. Lebanon athletic director John Grogan said the sport carries risks from the start. He said “the million dollar question” is whether contact sports can be played safely during a pandemic.
“I’m not an epidemiologist,” Grogan said. “I can’t tell you it’s safe to do it or not. Even the doctors and medical professionals disagree. That’s why we rely on the best advice we can get from the state and county health departments.”
Grogan said he believes it is safe to play golf.
“I have no idea though why golf and tennis cannot be played,” he said. “Team numbers are small and both are outside.”
Grogan said policy changes regarding high school sports have been frustrating.
Mt. Lebanon, like other districts designed return-to-sports protocols based on government guidelines. Lebo’s plan was approved by the school board.
“If you go down a path with a plan and it’s changed, it’s definitely challenging,” Grogan said. “We continue to talk to our coaches and student athletes and ask them to remain flexible as we grind out a policy to provide them with an opportunity to participate this fall. We are doing the things we have to do to make that a possibility. Hopefully, we’ll be able to play.”
Mt. Lebanon boys soccer coach Aaron Panczyk is optimistic sports will be played this fall.
“Most kids are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst,” he said. “We hope to play a season.”
If high school soccer is canceled, playing the sport in another season would be difficult because many area players complete at the club level for teams such as Beadling and Century United, Panczyk said.
Panczyk said he is confident schools and clubs could come up with “resolutions” to best “accommodate” players. He also said the lack of a cup season this past spring resulted in missed college recruiting opportunities for rising seniors.
“Kid would almost be forced to make a decision between high school and Cup,” Panczyk said.
He added that he was “disappointed” in Wolf’s stance on postponing fall sports.
“It’s bad enough as coaches that we are on pins and needles, but the kids are anxious,” he said. “You can see it in their eyes. They have worked so hard and are being pushed in every direction emotionally every day because things get pushed back or kicked further down the road because no one is pulling the trigger on a decision. For better or worse, make a decision and move on.”
Panczyk said he could see changes being made for contact sports. He said soccer is a “contact sport,” but that it is “shoulder-to-shoulder and not hand-to-hand” combat like in football.
“Do kids use arms and grab in our games? Yes,” he said. “But I’m not concerned about kids wiping their nose and smacking you in the face.”
Blended seasons, travel and the emotional stability of young athletes are concerns for Kuhn.
“There is a domino effect of moving sports to another season particularly with the smaller schools who rely on multi-sport athletes. What happens there? It forces kids to make choices,” Kuhn said. “Travel is a whole different ball game. Unlike college, you don’t have the travel, hotel stays and flights but you do have bus rides. We go next door a lot though so we can keep the kids safe.
“Then there is the emotional well-being of the kids,” he added. “A lot of kids are motivated through athletics. It’s proven they do better in school. One reason I got into high school coaching is to help student athletes use their sport as a vehicle to become successful in other aspects of their life. Losing sports takes that away from kids.”