Right-minded, but OC superintendents got it wrong
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Many coaches I spoke with as the week unfolded wanted to make day-by-day decisions to determine whether their games would be postponed or canceled this weekend. Certainly, if game-time conditions warranted it, a game could be put off at the last minute. But if a reasonably sound decision could be made by noon, coaches seemed to think that was fair enough.
They were critical of the superintendents’ blanket decision to halt all school activities through Sunday. No football, no volleyball, no homecoming dances, no debate tournaments. And, with few exceptions, no travel outside Orange County to compete in events -- even indoor events -- where the on-site conditions were healthier than they are in Orange County.
William Habermehl, the superintendent of Orange County schools, had the best intentions by gathering 15 district superintendents together on a conference call Thursday morning. He wanted everyone on the same page, for each to know what the other was doing and thinking. They could make their own decisions, but better to be as well-informed as possible. They collectively agreed to cancel all school-related activities through the weekend.
By acting Thursday, though, they took away the key element in tragedies such as this: Time.
Conditions change, sometimes hour by hour rather than day by day. Fortunately, conditions seem to have gotten better than worse. But by taking away Saturday as an option for rescheduling, or practicing, or even playing, the superintendents were looking too far into the future, and they were remarkably short-sighted.
If the air is unhealthy to play in, then it’s unhealthy. You don’t play. But if it’s not, then schools should have been allowed to go about the business of responding as necessary to get their business done. Playoffs are approaching, not just for football but for all sports.
Now, all football teams -- at least the ones that didn’t cancel their games -- will play twice next week without the benefit of meeting as a team on Saturday. Volleyball and water polo teams won’t have a chance to play as many matches as their playoff opponents because they were prevented from playing in weekend tournaments in areas where air quality was safe. Tennis teams will have to play three matches in two days to determine league champions and playoff participants by Wednesday. Golfers had to be chosen for the section tournament by a vote of coaches rather than by what they did on a golf course in competition.
That was the value of Saturday.
And that is why Thursday’s decision by superintendents was a bad one. Because in the end, if it’s too unsafe to play, they wouldn’t have been allowed anyway. All the superintendents did was take away the option.
- Martin Henderson