New order makes U.T. request moot, but what happens after start of new year?
Representatives of youth sports organizations participated in the remote meeting of Upper Township Committee on Nov. 23, advocating for more access to township facilities.
They said they have plans in place to protect their athletes and were frustrated with further delays and limitations.
“We want to get in there. We want to start practicing,” said Dave Schultz, who is active in the Upper Township Wrestling Association.
Practicing wrestling may be even worse than competing in wrestling because rather than being alone on a mat with a single opponent, time is spent in close proximity with multiple teammates on mats, face to face, something not conducive to slowing the spread of a deadly virus that has infected more than 13 million people and led to the death of more than 265,000 in the United States.
Upper Township Green Hornets head coach Frank Sannino cited an executive order from Gov. Phil Murphy allowing teams to practice and hold competitions, which was valid at the time of the meeting, but that became moot on Monday, Nov. 30, when the governor banned all youth and adult indoor sports, starting at 6 a.m. Dec. 5. They won’t be allowed until Jan. 2.
Murphy’s latest order makes more sense.
About two weeks earlier, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association had decided to push back the start of all high school sports in New Jersey until after the start of the new year.
High school basketball won’t be allowed to start practicing until almost mid-January, with competition starting the end of January. Swimming and indoor track were delayed until about mid-February and wrestling was pushed off until March.
Back on Oct. 12, contact practices and competitions were permitted to resume for high-risk sports in indoor settings, such as wrestling, with limits on gathering size.
“We’re not even looking to have competitions right now. We just want to have our team in there and not bring in any outsiders at this point. Which I thought would be the safest thing we could do,” Sannino said at the Nov. 23 meeting.
The safest thing to do, of course, is to not wrestle.
Sannino has spent years coaching young athletes and clearly is dedicated to providing an opportunity to learn the sport and everything that goes along with it, such as dedication, drive and camaraderie. But running a wrestling program amid a global pandemic and advocating for more time to do so just seems shortsighted.
Sannino argued that state guidelines allow the activity and other area teams are already practicing.
“We put a plan in. The township approved our plan. The governor said we can be in there to practice. I don’t understand what the holdup is,” he said.
Fran Willet of the Upper Township Basketball Association also spoke out, trying to get more time and additional venues for playing.
While basketball is less of a contact sport than wrestling, it’s still held inside a building and is not conducive to wearing a mask, which has been proved to slow the virus’ spread.
“We’re trying to maximize our time there,” he said. “We’re trying to run a program with 500 kids and we’re limited to three days. It’s going to be extremely tough to do,” he said.
As we noted, the governor’s new order putting the kibosh on all indoor sports until the start of the new year makes all of the requests moot, but pushing to get large groups of youngsters together didn’t make that much sense before the new restrictions.
As stories in this week’s edition of the newspaper explain, COVID-19 cases are rising quickly locally, statewide and nationally.
Although we are sure there are going to be scores of youngsters and parents upset with the new restrictions, having youth sports follow the path of high school sports – and delaying them for another month – is the smart thing to do right now.
The Upper Township wrestler organizers also should be keeping in mind the fact the NJSIAA has decided it is safest to delay high school wrestling until March. Unless the coronavirus trends reverse course by the beginning of January and the NJSIAA does the same with its restrictions, we believe Upper Township youth sports should follow suit.
The youth sports programs in Upper Township were following the guidelines set by the State. They were not trying to avoid any of the mandates. They were just trying to figure out the use of the Community Center in Upper Township between all of the programs that use the facility. These organizations are run by volunteers, and are trying to give the children a sense of “normalcy” during the Pandemic. These organizations have worked tirelessly since the beginning of the Pandemic to provide a safe environment for the participants in the programs. The organizations have submitted multiple plans to the Township, and have had to modify them with every mandate that has been put out by the State. All plans have had the safety of the children and volunteers first and foremost. Do not point fingers at these organizations for wanting to teach youth sports to the children of Upper Township!