Beshear to allow high school sports, puts responsibility on local boards
Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday he would allow high school sports to move forward this fall and not overturn last week’s decision by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.
“We’re not going to overturn that decision,” Beshear said. “It’s not because I think it’s a good decision or a wise decision, but if we’re going to defeat this virus, we need people other than me all over Kentucky taking responsibility to make good and wise decisions. ... By starting with some of the most high contact sports, we risk a shortened season. We risk what I think will be successful plans to get our kids back in school. We risk every other sport that’s going to follow.
“But we can’t be making every decision for folks out of the governor’s office. It’s going to be incumbent on our superintendents, our coaches to make the wisest decisions that they can.”
Beshear’s announcement came after more than 100 student athletes and parents gathered on the Capitol steps Monday morning to voice their support for moving forward with high school athletics amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some teams across the state got underway Monday.
Frederick Douglass soccer’s Emily Coke and a few teammates joined the “‘Let them Play’ in Kentucky” rally organized quickly by a Facebook group that has grown to more than 31,000 members since it was formed Friday afternoon. The rally included student athletes from as far away as Whitley County.
“Soccer’s always been a big part of my life and having it potentially get taken away is just awful,” said Coke, who was part of the first-ever freshman class at the school three years ago and is now a senior. “I definitely respect all the officials that are making the decisions and everything, but at least for our team and so many other teams — we’ve definitely followed all the rules they’ve put in play and we’ve worked so hard these past weeks — we want them to hear our voice today. We’ll do whatever it takes.”
The Douglass players also attended another rally in Lexington ahead of Monday evening’s Fayette County County Board of Education meeting. The school system put a halt to all athletics activities temporarily to allow the board to consider what steps to take next. A similar rally was planned in Louisville where Jefferson County’s school board was also considering its options Monday.
Last week, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association voted to allow its fall sports to begin practices this week and games to kick off the week of Sept. 7.
Because many fall sports, such as football, soccer and volleyball are perceived as posing a higher risk of continuous contact and thus a higher risk of potentially spreading the coronavirus, high school sports teams in the state have been limited to training that consists only of conditioning and individual skills for the last two months. Real practices that include game-like situations have been forbidden.
Beshear and the state’s public health commissioner, Dr. Steven Stack, each warned of the health risks to student athletes and those close to them that allowing play poses. Those risks include conditions that linger after COVID-19 has run its course. Beshear noted that college and pro teams who are getting ready to play are testing their players as many as three times a week.
“To every program that’s going to start up, I want you to really think, ‘Are we testing our athletes?’ ‘Are we doing everything that it takes to keep them safe?’ ‘Are we putting them first?’” Beshear said. He later noted he would not be allowing his children to participate in a high-contact sport.
Stack said moving forward with sports means student athletes must heed coronavirus safety guidelines at all times.
“If you see people flaunting the rules, you should steer a wide course,” Stack said. “And if you go to school and you want to stay in school, it’s everybody’s obligation to make sure folks socially distance, wear a mask and wash your hands. ... because if we don’t, what’s going to happen ... football’s going to start, kids are going to start getting infected, people are going to get concerned and scared and things are going to get shut down. And the rest of the sporting teams are going to lose their season too because it is a high contact sport, and the likelihood of spreading the disease is great.”
Beshear noted that if the state sees a dramatic increase in cases and they seem tied to sports he would step in, and he cautioned against teams putting competitive concerns over health concerns for their athletes.
“Surely, if there’s a positive in a team, the No. 1 thing would be the importance of the safety of all the athletes and everything else is fully on pause and we can do the right thing,” Beshear said.
Earlier Monday at the rally, State Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, encouraged those in attendance and voiced his confidence that the worst could be avoided.
“I’m so encouraged being an educator, to see the civic participation today by you all being here and standing for something you truly believe in,” he said. “These are very valid concerns that we have ... We can do this right. We can do this in a safe way. We can have sports this fall.”
Critics of the restrictions believe teams can step up practices and play games safely and that repeatedly delaying activities only makes it more likely seasons will slip away with no window left to play them, regardless of the COVID-19 risk. Before the governor held his daily COVID briefing Monday those at the rally wanted to send a message.
“I hope (Beshear) hears that the athletes have done their part. Their parents are willing to do their part,” said Dawne Perkins of Lexington, the founder of the Let them Play Facebook group and rally organizer. “We understand the dynamics of the pandemic. We understand the possibilities of it and under no circumstances, whatsoever, do we want to put anybody at risk … But we can’t stay home forever. A lot of the higher ups have said this is going to be around for a long time. We just want to take 2020 and try to create a new normal for now.”
In Lexington where it remained uncertain whether the Fayette school board would allow its teams to move forward, a few dozen students and parents had gathered in front of Fayette County Public Schools’ Central Office by 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“We’re here to show our support for student athletes, to let them go ahead and play,” said Bryan Henderson, who said three of his children are student athletes in Fayette County.
“It’s hard to swallow that we can have hundreds of people in bars and restaurants and movie theaters ... and with a very controlled environment with student athletes that we can’t have them play, outdoors even,” Henderson said.
Kylee Morgan, a Douglass girls’ soccer player who rallied in Lexington on Monday, said she hoped Fayette school board members realized that students were taking precautions.
“There are obviously safe ways for us to go about having a season,” said Kylee, a junior.
In its press release last week, KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett said the KHSAA’s board recognized that different districts might want to move at different speeds in resuming play.
“It is critical that we expand as slowly as possible and our programs not press the accelerator too quickly,” Tackett said. “Certainly, no one should expect teams to be in postseason form in their first game and if administrators and coaches don’t feel like this slower progression is in their best interests, they need to wait to start contests. The KHSAA doesn’t direct teams to play, we only define the allowable times for play. We will plan on the submission of contest documents very early next week and will remain available to discuss any of those provisions with the governor’s office and the Kentucky Department of Health.”
Oldham County schools were among those waiting for the governor’s ruling before doing anything beyond conditioning. In Lexington, Lexington Catholic and Lexington Christian announced a temporary halt to athletics activities. LexCath’s move came after in-person classes were suspended there this week after a few positive COVID-19 cases.
In Scott County, the Cardinals’ football team put on helmets for their practice for the first time Monday morning and its boys’ and girls’ soccer teams held tryouts.
“Right now, we’re just embracing today and trying to have a great day today,” Scott County football coach Jim McKee said. “One of the things that makes us great (as coaches and administrators at Scott County) is that we all work together in what we feel like is the common good for our student athletes. And as a collective body, we all felt good about moving forward.”
McKee’s team hasn’t had any COVID incidents this summer, but he said he recognizes the threat is out there and has affected other teams at various points this summer.
“I’ve had incidences of people close to me that have had to deal with it,” he said. “We totally respect where we are. We don’t control tomorrow. I don’t get votes on ‘you’re shutting down, you’re starting, you’re doing this — that’s not my worry. I’m not going to worry about that.
“If we can practice today, we’re going to practice.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 2:03 PM.
