What the state’s lifting of COVID ban on high school football means for Merced County
.JPG "The Atwater Falcons take the field during a game against Patterson at Atwater High School in Atwater, Calif., Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. The Tigers beat the Falcons 37-10.")
High school football and other high-contact, outdoor sports will be allowed to start up in some parts of California on Feb. 26 after a Friday morning announcement by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom announced the change in state guidelines that will allow sports like football and water polo to be played while counties like Merced are in purple and red tiers in California’s color-coded “Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
The purple and red tiers are the state’s most restrictive designations for reopening under its COVID-19 plan.
According to the state Department of Public Health’s new guidelines, counties will needs to have a COVID-19 case rate at or below 14 per 100,000 for high-contact and moderate-contact sports to be played.
Merced County is currently at 26.9 cases per 100,000. Newsom said there are 19 counties that would be eligible to start competing next week. It’s unclear how long it will take Merced County to reach the threshold.
Previously high-contact sports like football and water polo couldn’t be played until counties reached the orange tier.
“We believe it’s backed by science, evidence, backed by experience, practicality,” Newsom said.
“But more important than anything else, we are confident that if we can resume it will only help enliven the capacity of these kids to feel more engaged, feel more alive, to get the social back to social and emotional, the mental and physical health and resume activities that are much more positive in terms of their life choices.”
Sports that are allowed to compete in the purple tier — swimming, girls tennis, girls golf and cross country — started this week in Merced County.
High-contact sports coaches and athletes will also have to be tested weekly for COVID-19 under the new state guidelines. The test results must be released within 24 hours of competition. Newsom announced the state will pay for the testing. For moderate-contact sports like football and softball the testing is not required.
The new guidelines don’t change anything for the high-contact, indoor sports like basketball and wrestling.
“That’s a separate conversation, that’s more complicated and that’s where we have more controversy and that’s understandably so,” Newsom said.
Mixed reactions from coaches
Under the previous state guidelines, the chances of any high school football season appeared grim.
Especially with football having a mandated end date of April 17 due to the CIF’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee’s recommendation to give athletes a lengthy break between seasons.
The chances of Merced County reaching the orange tier in time didn’t seem likely.
But Friday’s announcement gives local coaches and athletes hope.
“I’ve always been the guy who is a little more optimistic,” said Golden Valley football coach Rick Martinez. “I try to me more concerned with what we can do instead of what we can’t do. But it got tough convincing kids. You could see some of the student athletes losing faith.”
“I think this will bring back some of those kids who jumped on the fence back to our side,” he added. “They’ll be excited to play again.”
Merced football coach Rob Scheidt says he’s working with the Sac-Joaquin Section to possibly moving back the start date of when teams can go full contact to give more wiggle room for games this year.
Scheidt says Friday’s announcement is a good step. “We’re really happy to be moving in the right direction,” he said. “It’s still a little cloudy, but we know we have a chance. We just have to figure out the logistics.”
Other coaches are happy to hear the announcement but will temper their excitement.
“As coaches, they’ve run out of rugs for them to pull out from under us,” said Atwater coach Seneca Ybarra.
“I’ll be excited when I know it’s real. I want to have a schedule in front of me, I want to know what days I’m going where. It’s like when I was a kid, it wasn’t real we were going to Disneyland until we were at Disneyland.”
Los Banos football coach Dustin Caropreso wants to make sure the athletes have enough time to prepare. A lot of kids haven’t been lifting weights during the pandemic. He wants to make sure teams are given enough practice time.
“I’m hopeful with the announcement,” Caropreso said. “But I hope we don’t rush to get football players back on the field.”
Ybarra says the past year has been tough on athletes and coaches. Without school, it’s been difficult for younger players to get to and from practices if they have transportation issues.
As a coach, Ybarra has seen some kids question whether it’s worth it to keep working out with the season in doubt.
“I pray and hope we get some semblance of a season because it has been hard,” Ybarra said.
“Our numbers have been pretty good. I love my kids but sometimes you can see it in their body language. Nobody really says it out loud, nobody wants to be an energy vampire and suck all the good energy from the team.”
Ybarra says he has had kids ask him why it’s worth it to be working out if there’s not going to be a season.
Ybarra says he doesn’t want to lie to his players.
“I tell them I don’t know, but I’m going to go at it until they tell us not to. It’s a grind, just like life. I’m not going to give up on you guys.”
