Photo credit: Tristan Lorei | The Breeze
The sports world has resumed a sense of normalcy. After a months-long pause because of COVID-19, sports leagues found ways to safely resume or start their seasons.
When some sports leagues around the world resumed in May, the possibility of welcoming fans into stadiums seemed like an unlikely occurrence. However, the NFL and many colleges have experimented with allowing fans to attend games. Southern universities like Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina have allowed season ticket holders and students to attend at a limited capacity.
College football started relatively smoothly but has dealt with a spike of positive cases and many postponements in the past week. Nick Saban, the head coach at the University of Alabama, is one of many coaches, players and staff members who’s recently tested positive for the virus. Saban’s diagnosis almost resulted in the postponement of the Crimson Tide’s much-anticipated game against the University of Georgia; however, it happened as scheduled with Saban coaching from the sidelines.
“I found out earlier this afternoon that I had tested positive for COVID-19,” Saban said in a statement released on Oct. 14. “I immediately left work and isolated at home. At this time, I do not have any symptoms relative to COVID[-19], and I have taken another PCR test to confirm my diagnosis.”
Some people have raised concerns over how seriously schools are handling safety precautions. Numerous images and videos were posted by students on social media showing a seeming lack of face masks and social distancing enforcement at games. Although fans probably weren’t the reason for many players and coaches testing positive, one could unknowingly come in contact with the virus while at the game, especially if one isn’t practicing safe social distancing.
Professional sports leagues are also seeing a rise in positive cases. The NFL had to postpone or relocate games after multiple team outbreaks. Despite the Indianapolis Colts having to shut down the team’s training facility after players received positive test results, up to 12,500 fans were allowed to attend the team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a media call that the league must remain flexible in order to finish the season, according to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero.
“We cannot grow complacent — not the players, not of the coaches, not the rest of personnel,” Goodell said. “Ninety percent is not good enough in this environment.”
While fans attending games isn’t to blame for outbreaks amongst teams, it certainly raises some red flags about fan safety. Because specialists are still learning more information about the virus on a daily basis, how sure can one be about one’s safety in a stadium? Until more information about the virus — including transmission — is known, the health of fans should be prioritized and protected by not allowing them to attend games.
Despite fall sports being canceled, JMU still needs to remain flexible with training and practices. Jeff Bourne, JMU’s Director of Athletics, discussed setbacks teams have had to overcome while navigating through this offseason in a letter addressing the program’s financial losses due to COVID-19 and future fundraising.
“We paused all workouts for 15 of our 18 sport programs in September due to positive cases on our campus,” Bourne said. “The continued uncertainty on our student-athletes and staff have taken a mental and emotional toll as well.”
It’s not yet clear what Bridgeforth Stadium will look like on game days this season as the country is currently experiencing a second wave of the pandemic. Although the future for sports and public gatherings is the brightest it’s been since the onset of the pandemic in March, there’s still concern regarding the safety of allowing fans in stadiums while enforcing social distancing.
If COVID-19 guidelines are implemented and enforced properly, fans should be allowed to attend games. However, it seems like the NFL, NCAA and other leagues failed to achieve this.
It’s a great accomplishment that sports have been able to resume, but for now leagues should solely focus on maintaining the health of their teams and taking more time to make sure it’s safe for fans to return before allowing them to do so.
Story originally published by The Breeze.
留言