High schools push ahead for fall football amid pandemic
June 22, 2020
Dozens of states have been welcoming back high school athletes for strength and conditioning programs, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. And it’s not just football. Other sports such as volleyball and basketball, baseball and soccer can participate as well. Marching bands, too. Iowa became the first state to resume competitive high school sports when baseball and softball teams began play June 15.
In all, tens of thousands of high school athletes are working out or playing games. And with virus cases and hospitalizations rising in hot spots, their return is raising questions of whether it is too soon and too risky.
Instead of focusing only on how to return to sports, high schools should at least consider not playing at all, said Kenneth Shropshire, professor and chief executive of the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State.
“I’m really on the extreme of make things as safe as possible … Just wait. It’s not that important. Even in Texas,” Shropshire said. “Could we forgo a year of high school football? Does the world come to an end?”