One Step At A Time

The latest wave of disappointment to wash over our communities came on Friday, when officials from Section XI, the governing body of high school athletics in Suffolk County, announced that interscholastic sports would be postponed until January due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The unanimous vote by the section’s Athletic Council, a group of athletic directors, teachers and other school executives, came just one week after a plan was hatched to allow low-risk fall sports, like soccer, field hockey, tennis, golf, cross country and swimming, to begin on September 21. Included with that original order were strict guidelines for players and coaches on how to behave in locker rooms, on buses and on the fields of play.

It gave high school sports fans, and players, some hope that there would be a taste of normalcy this fall. But prior to Friday’s news, some coaches, including the head football coach at Southampton High School, had spoken out against playing sports at all in the current climate.

The newest plan, officials said, is to condense all three seasons — fall, winter and spring — into a six-month window from January to June. In the end, the decision could play an important role in keeping schools open, as we continue to rebound on the South Fork from the crippling effects of the health pandemic.

It’s a simple, albeit painful, decision to limit close interaction among hundreds of student athletes in school districts across Long Island, as Suffolk County follows an earlier decision in Nassau County to also postpone all sports until the beginning of 2021.

Like many decisions made by school officials over the last six months, the move to postpone fall sports was met with substantial push-back from some members of the community. Why is it okay to hold a protest, but not a high school soccer game? Why can 50 people pack a pharmacy, but we can’t put 22 on a field? What about the throngs of visitors headed to pumpkin patches in the coming weeks?

For starters, a two- or three-month season, with daily practices and regular travel, is quite a bit different than a one-day event, or spending five minutes inside an essential business. There is no doubt about the benefits of sports for children, and exercise in general, and schools — and parents — will need to address those needs in the weeks ahead. But there’s an overriding principle at stake: Keeping schools open, and kids safe, are the primary goals right now. Some risks aren’t worth taking.

This decision was made to protect our communities with that in mind. We can all lament it and support it at the same time — it was the right thing to do. Getting back to normal is going to be a slow process, one step at a time. Impatience is our enemy.