Rejoice, Arizona high school fall sports fans.
The AIA announced its fall sports schedule will continue as planned.
There will be competition in a few weeks, and some sports have already started.
I empathize with the parents, coaches, student-athletes, administrators and board members during these uncertain times. Walking the tightrope of safety during a pandemic, mental health of students and teachers and making decisions for families that will be impacted differently from school to school and household to household is not an easy one to balance. This is the furthest thing from clear-cut.
For some schools and families, today brings a sigh of relief. For others, doubt and worry are creeping in now that high school sports aren’t so abstract anymore. Some families are probably ping-ponging between these feelings by the hour.
You can think the coronavirus brings serious health implications. You can think it’s not that big of a deal. No matter where you stand on the spectrum of seriousness of this virus, you can’t deny it has impacted our world and schools.
So while teams and athletes get a little bit of certainty on their schedules today, now is not the time to let up what we’re doing. It wasn’t that long ago that Arizona was making national news for how rapidly positive cases were coming in. Thankfully, the numbers and metrics have improved, but it’s hard to forget how quickly things can turn.
There’s a month before many of these sports will go head-to-head. Now is the time stay diligent with social distancing, wearing a mask and looking out for one another.
We’re approaching the 4th quarter of a game where the payoff is to see Arizona’s high school athletes play the sports they love and reach goals they have worked so hard to achieve. Sure, a mask is hot and can be hard to talk through at times but if that’s the cost of getting these athletes safely back on the field, then you won’t see the bottom half of my face for the rest of the year. (A welcome sight for some, I’m sure.)
Let’s not let up now because we have a little bit of a lead.
It’s time to finish the game and guarantee these student-athletes get a win this fall.
