Like most parents, Bryan Rust wants to be there in-person to watch his son play high school football this fall. He also understands the challenges administrators and school districts face as they plan for a season unlike any other.
With so much uncertainty, could high school sporting events mirror an empty Yankee Stadium or Citi Field with cardboard cutouts in lieu of loving parents or screaming fans?
That’s the fate Rust, superintendents and athletic departments across the state hope to avoid this fall.
“For me not to see him play up close would be heartbreaking,” Rust said Tuesday in an interview with NJ Advance Media. “I’m not even kidding, it would kill me, but I understand how it has to be.”
Unlike the spring, which was canceled as the coronavirus spread throughout New Jersey, it appears high school athletes will get the chance to play this fall. But getting players onto the field will likely come with restrictions to who can attend games as school districts await new guidelines from the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association about spectator safety.
Athletes like Rust’s son, Jon, a senior running back at Bergen Catholic, want to make their final seasons meaningful. Last season, Rust played in three games before a foot injury derailed what he and his family hoped would be a breakout season.
To Rust, knowing his son has a chance to play is more important than his desire to be in the stands.
“They have to play,” Rust said. “Whether they’re doing it for their future or playing for the team camaraderie, whatever it is, it’s their time, and I would hate to see what happened in the spring.”
The NJSIAA expects to make an announcement this week regarding spectators, but it’s likely that even with overarching guidelines from the state’s governing body for high school sports, districts will need to tailor their plans to meet stricter safety protocols on a district-by-district basis.
“It’s going to be a challenge because this virus is insidious,” said Dr. Brian Zychowski, Superintendent of the North Brunswick school district and a member of the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee. “We’re going to need protocols and safety staff in place more than we normally do, and we’ll have to maintain the limits whatever they may be.”
The state’s limit on outdoor gatherings, like they were for graduations, would drastically change what a crowded high school football game looks like. Some of the state’s most-popular games draw thousands of fans not to mention parents of players, cheerleaders and band members.
At the forefront of their planning, athletic directors say they’re waiting to see if the state’s limit on outdoor gatherings increases if the number of COVID-19 cases and rate of transmission continue to drop leading into the season’s Oct. 1 start date.
Additionally, will that capacity limit include players, coaches and referees on the field or just fans off the field? How about cheerleaders surrounding the field or potentially band members performing in a separate location?
Shawnee athletic director Rich Dodd said he thinks the count would include everyone regardless of their role. If the limit was 500 people, Dodd said he thinks that number would include everyone on the field and those attending the game, too.
“I don’t know if that will mean teams will have a smaller roster to travel,” Dodd said. “I’ve heard maybe it will just be the home team’s band and cheerleaders to cut down on that number. I don’t know if that will be a West Jersey Football League guideline or if the NJSIAA will get that detailed with it. I think the NJSIAA will have general guidelines for spectators, and the rest will be up to the leagues and conferences.”
As for actually enforcing social distancing for spectators, Dodd said a lot will have to do with how many fans can attend and how tickets ultimately get distributed. Last week an athletic director at a Utah high school football game stopped play mid-game until fans spread out and masked up.
“You kind of hope that parents would be able to police themselves,” Dodd said. “Obviously if you see things, you have to address them, but hopefully at this point, everyone understands what’s at stake.”
According to the NJSIAA, over 100,000 athletes played youth sports this summer and no clusters have been traced back to games or fans in attendance.
Matt Potok of Jackson Memorial pitches at sunset during the Last Dance World Series Round of 8 game between Jackson Jags/Jackson Memorial vs. Falcon Baseball/St. Joseph (Met) at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, NJ on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. Will fans be allowed at HS events if districts can ensure similar distancing?Scott Faytok | For NJ Advance Media
Mike Murray Jr., the athletic director at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen and an organizer of the Last Dance World Series, said his biggest takeaway from leading the 200-plus team baseball tournament this summer was learning how quickly things can change.
“I think it’s going to be very important that in the early days of this that people are diligent in enforcing the protocols but also not quick to pull the plug on something if you’re not seeing something happening Week 1,” Murray said. “It’s not just new to the players, coaches and staff. It’s also new to the fans. We saw the fans get better over time and even the minor league staffs saw improvement, too.”
According to Murray, social distancing at pool play games at 57 sites across the state was increasingly difficult because fields were largely overseen by volunteers. That changed as teams moved on to play in minor league stadiums with increased seating and event staff with authority to disperse crowds.
“If the end game is getting kids to play safely, we’re going to do everything we can to make that happen,” said Murray, who added that monitoring and dispersing student sections in the bleachers would remain a priority for him and his administration.
The idea came from a drive-in concert, but why can’t that same idea work for a high school soccer or field hockey game?
Mike Gatley, the athletic director at Mainland High School, said his district plans to remove its bleachers from its soccer and field hockey fields and create the same kind of “drive-in” or “sit-in” squares that promoters are using for socially distant concerts so that each player’s family will get an assigned square where they can set up chairs, take off their masks and spread out while watching a game.
“The ultimate end goal is that we want to play, and if we want to play, this is what we have to do,” Gatley said. “This has been as challenging as ever because a kid can come on campus, sprain his ankle or tear his ACL. You never want that to happen, but when you’re concerned about the general health of someone, and you don’t really have any control over that, it’s even more concerning.”
Balancing that control with spectators creates an even bigger concern. School administrators can shut down programs if an outbreak occurs but having crowds of spectators at games with little oversight could make contact tracing nearly impossible.
Mainland's girls soccer team plays in the 2019 South Jersey, Group 3 final against Ocean City. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
That’s why districts want to be as stringent as possible. Randolph athletic director David Hutchinson said he and his administration will continue to wait for the NJSIAA’s guidelines before announcing any plans, but the only thing that matters is keeping everyone safe.
“We don’t want to have a situation with our spectators where it takes away our focus from the safety of our players, coaches and officials,” Hutchinson said. “It is a little bit of a concern that we’ll have to manage all of that when our focus is on the athletes and their safety. It’s concerning, but it’s workable. We’ll just need to have a plan, knowing the basic numbers and what’s expected of us.”
For Hutchinson and the rest of the state’s athletic directors, they say that time will continue to an asset.
Athletes will finish non-contact summer sessions this week before a two-week hiatus. Official practices will resume Sept. 14 with games starting Sept. 28 for girls tennis, Oct. 1 for all other sports except for football, which opens either Oct. 2 or 3 depending on the school.
Last week, the NJSIAA announced indoor fall sports (girls volleyball and gymnastics) will be moved to a special third season starting Feb. 16.
“I always use this analogy that you’re staring up a 100-rung ladder,” said Nutley athletic director Joe Piro. “Back in May, we were on rung number one. We’ve got a few more rungs to go, but we’re right where we need to be. Hopefully we’ll keep climbing that ladder successfully and get to where we need to be.”
Whether it’s with smaller crowds, no fans or limited fans, Piro said he expects the NJSIAA’s announcement to set off another round of policy-making decisions for districts across the state.
“Most schools have followed the NJSIAA’s guidelines, some schools have opted to cancel fall sports for whatever reason, but we have faith in the organization,” Piro said. “Lets let them give us the blueprint, and if we have to tweak here or tweak there, we’ll do it, but that has to be made on a district-by-district level.”
Piro, a past president of the Super Football Conference, said that before speculating about what the guidelines might be, how they would affect travel, roster size or ticket announcements, it’s important to remember the end goal is to get student-athletes back on the field, first and foremost.
Nutley’s football and baseball stadium may look different, but that’s okay, Piro said.
“If you were going to ask me will The Oval on a Saturday look like it has for the last 100 years, I would say probably not,” Piro said. “But what it’s going to look like? I don’t really know. We’re still a month and a half away from our first game. Our next goal is to get through the next two-three weeks, then 21 days of practice without any hiccups.”
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Patrick Lanni may be reached at planni@njadvancemedia.com.
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