COVID still impacting schedules

By Andy Walter
Posted 9/29/21

When it came to getting a game in, there was a time when an athletic director’s biggest worry was the weather.

But, right now, a number of things can lead to a high school game being …

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COVID still impacting schedules

Posted

When it came to getting a game in, there was a time when an athletic director’s biggest worry was the weather.

But, right now, a number of things can lead to a high school game being postponed or canceled in Delaware.

The shortage of football referees and bus drivers have both led to schedule changes — especially at the middle school and junior varsity levels.

At the end of the day, though, the COVID-19 pandemic is still having a significant impact on the fall sports season for the second year in a row.

Three football games involving downstate teams have already been postponed/canceled because at least one of the teams didn’t have enough players cleared to play.

Often the shortage is due to contact tracing: Otherwise healthy players are required to be in quarantine because they’ve been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID.

“It’s funny, you have a game plan for this day and that day,” said Seaford High athletic director Jerry Kobasa. “And you never get to the game plan because there’s always something coming up — a curve ball here or there. It wears on you.”

Two downstate football contests were postponed on Friday. Indian River was supposed to play at Brandywine with Delmar going to Milford.

Delmar and Milford tried to reschedule the contest for Monday before postponing it again.

Those games, as well as Seaford’s date with Tower Hill earlier in the season, are simply considered non-contests.

Delmar coach Dave Hearn said his squad would have been missing between five and 25 players, mostly because of contact tracing. The Wildcats had three of their seven games last season canceled due to COVID protocols.

Hearn doesn’t think schools have seen the last of such postponements, either.

“I have a feeling there will be more,” he said. “It’s just another one of those years where nothing can be quite normal yet.
“I wish it would go away. But it seems to just hang on and drag on. And, once it’s got you, it won’t let go.

“There are very few people actually in the positives,” Hearn added. “But when you include all that (contact tracing), it becomes a nightmare.”

Because every football team in the state has an open date this season, there is still a chance that some postponed games can be rescheduled.

Having someone test positive on a team doesn’t automatically mean a game has to be canceled. How much contact their teammates have had with them plays a role in who has to quarantine.

When there is a quarantine situation, officials from the two schools usually talk and decide whether it makes sense to still play the game as scheduled.

Because of the number of unavailable players and the positions they play, Hearn said playing Milford last week “would have been impossible. It wouldn’t have been safe for kids. It would be a very difficult situation.

“Both coaches talked and were in full agreement that this was the way to go,” said Hearn.

The trouble is that a COVID situation often doesn’t affect just one game.

Delmar is slated to play a big Homecoming game with Woodbridge on Saturday afternoon. But Hearn isn’t exactly sure when some of his players will be able to return to practice.

“We’re just trying to make sure everybody has done everything by the rules and we get them all back by Saturday,” he said. “But it’s not going to allow for much practice time. ... Some of us will be ready and some we’ll have to see what we can do on short notice.”

On Friday, Kobasa’s Seaford football team is slated to play Indian River, which is coming off its postponement.

Like most school officials, Kobasa does what he can to encourage students to follow all the health and safety protocols.

“I just want our kids to take care of themselves, that’s it,” he said. “We keep talking to our coaches about following the rules — just follow the rules, because it’s so easy to want to put your mask down.

“But, I’ve got to say, of the students I’ve seen walking around, almost everyone is following the rules.”

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