Should parents allow their children to play high school football this fall?

In the last two weeks, most Texas football teams have begun full-time practices such as extended conditioning workouts in preparation for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has continued to spread across Texas and the U.S., causing public health and economic crisis and presenting decisions to parents on how to approach their children’s education and participate in extracurricular activities.

As successful refunds from professional leagues have come on quarantined campaigns and some major NCAA conferences have postponed the season, the UIL has firmly adhered to its plan to fully implement the 2020 football calendar.

Teams Class 4A and below started training on August 3 and will open the football season August 27-29. Class 6A and 5A teams can currently hold fitness and skill-specific sessions before full practice begins September 7 and football matches begin in early September.

In recent interviews with four doctors in Texas, The Dallas Morning News asked to share their perspectives on the liveability of those plans, the families of the conundrums and the long-term prospects for the resumption of youth sports amid the pandemic.

Should parents let their children play football this fall?

Every expert was hesitant about the current pandemic climate in Texas and the potential for increased proliferation through essential activities.

Dr. Nikhil Bhayani, an infectious disease / epidemiology consultant for Texas Health, has a son who played high school basketball last winter. Given the uncertainty about re-attending personal school, Bhayani said he would probably ban his son from playing this season if he wanted to try again.

As the parent of two former footballers, Dr. Steven Singleton, a doctor of sports medicine with Texas Health, considers the same.

If his sons had contracted COVID-19 through school or sports, Singleton – also the lead orthopedic surgeon for TCU athletics – said he would be most concerned about family spread to him, and then potentially to his patients, and to their grandparents .

While experts agree that older populations are at higher risk for COVID-19 complications, research has shown that teens and young adults have a similar chance of contracting and spreading the virus.

Potential long-term health effects remain unknown.

In a late July study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found one in five previously healthy young adults (ages 18-34) had persistent symptoms 14 to 21 days after infection.

In a Journal of American Medical Association study of 100 patients recently diagnosed with COVID-19, imaging of cardiovascular system showed “cardiac involvement” in 78 patients and “persistent myocardial inflammation” in 60 patients, all of whom did not had pre-existing conditions.

The journal concluded the need “for ongoing research into the long-term cardiovascular effects of COVID-19.”

Doctors noted the possibility that high school players who contract COVID-19 have future athletic opportunities – often university scholarships and professional goals – compromised by medical issues.

According to a report from The Athletic, the Big Ten, which postponed its fall sports season on Tuesday, is aware of at least 10 players who have myocarditis, a rare heart condition linked to people who have COVID-19.

“It’s not just a respiratory virus that you get and there are no consequences,” said Dr. Jill Weatherhead, an assistant professor of tropical medicine and infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “We really do not know and that should be a consideration when we think about whether it is the right time to start large group activities.”

What are the biggest concerns presenting for high schools?

The National Federation of State High School Associations marked football as the highest risk activity among UIL fall sports.

Doctors say up close, contact in the field for longer periods – with and against linemen and in steps to approach, for example – and large teams and support staff will increase the chances of spreading the coronavirus.

That out-of-game games are an advantage, they said, but non-game scenarios also present problems.

Most meetings for football teams and weight room sessions take place in close proximity. Practices, especially in inclement weather, can also occur in field homes, which often have poor ventilation when doors or bays are closed.

While the NBA, WNBA, NHL, and professional football championships have successful return-to-play protocols modeled with daily tests and centralized, fan-free campuses, the environments are not applicable at the high school level, where financial resources are thinner, access to tests is limited and players are minors.

“In the high school setting, you have athletes who interact with students of all levels and come from home and with their families,” Singleton said. “The virus can spread very easily.”

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What developments would make you more comfortable with participation?

Experts advise that parents and guardians use community-based dissemination rates to guide decisions.

In trying to reopen businesses, most states have emphasized a reduction in the positivity rate, the number of daily positive tests compared to total test administration, over subsequent weeks.

Texas on Tuesday reported a positivity figure of 24.2% for its seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 cases. The data mark an increase in double-digit percentage points since late July. Gov. Greg Abbott said a positivity rate above 10% was cause for concern.

Some doctors suggest an even broader appearance when considering high school football.

“If I were to send my children out,” Bhayani said, “I would probably like to see … the decline in the number of cases over the last 30 days.”

If areas meet those criteria, experts said, it is important teams and schools maintain the same prevention standards that helped achieve the decline, and ensure that control is not temporary.

This will likely mean wearing masks, adhering to social distancing guidelines and maintaining good sanitation and hygiene practices – even if traditional seasons have not required such details.

Weatherhead recommended managers also set a benchmark for what outbreaks and concerns are affecting the community, and cancel sports if this is over.

“I just want people to realize that this does not mean you can take off your mask and go back to your normal life,” Bhayani said, “because we will see an increase in cases, and it will make things a lot harder. “

In the meantime, Drs. Diana Cervantes, director of the Master in Public Health Epidemiology program at the University of North Texas, coaches must explain to their players the importance of safe behavior outside of practices and games.

“Sport is a very social thing,” Cervantes said. “Every decision you make is about influencing the whole team, and that’s not just on the field. It’s off the field. ”

What about other fall sports?

Besides football, volleyball presents the greatest risk, according to NFHS guidelines, given the proximity of the players on a smaller court, often screaming and the inner court.

Cross country, with upbeat race starting, and team tennis appearing more viable, experts said, due to its smaller size and natural individual, distance participation. Travel and competition against other schools – from different areas of the state that have experienced different levels of pandemic care – is a risk for all four UIL fall sports.

The doctors said all sports are safer for the community, however, if schools ban spectators.

Current UIL guidelines allow participation to 50% capacity, and most, if not all, plans of school to allow fans.

But community – especially indoors at volleyball matches – and potential lack of enforcement for public size and divorce prompt concerns. Major American professional leagues that have re-entered the competition have done so without spectators.

‘Children want to play. Old people want them to play. It is good for both physical and mental health, ”said Weatherhead. “The sooner we can get these kids back to playing, the better, but we need to do it in a safe and healthy way that protects both the players and the staff as well as the larger community.”

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