Local school districts are given the go ahead to start high-risk high school sports

Following months of delays due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, local school officials were surprised late last month by the sudden approval of high-risk sports by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office, the State Department of Health and the county executives of the seven counties of the Hudson Valley, including Ulster. 

“It was a huge surprise, to be honest with you,” said Kingston City School District Superintendent Paul Padalino on Sunday, January 31. “Especially looking at the fact that the season is supposed to start tomorrow.”

The decision allows for winter sports like basketball, volleyball, wrestling and competitive cheerleading to get underway as early as Monday, February 1, and after six required practices competition could begin for some programs as soon as Monday, February 8. In a joint press release, the seven county executives cited a review of the state’s “Interim Guidance for Sports and Recreation during the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency” published on Friday, January 22 as being instrumental in their collective determination that sports could proceed. 

“Following discussion with the New York State Association of County Health Officials, regional county executives, and area public health officials, the Hudson Valley region will authorize ‘Higher-Risk’ sports — both scholastic and non-scholastic — to proceed, effective February 1, 2021, at the sole discretion of the governing school district or non-scholastic athletic organization,” read the statement. “In accordance with the state guidance, county health departments in the region will also monitor whether there has been a more-transmissible variant of Covid-19 identified in the area, as well as the percent of local residents that test positive.”

As high school athletics were pushed deeper and deeper into the 2020-21 school year by the pandemic, the different seasons were juggled and condensed in the hopes of every possible sport being allowed to unfold. As it currently stands, the winter sports season is scheduled to end on Sunday, February 28, and there will be no Mid-Hudson Athletic League (MHAL) or Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) playoffs. The fall II sports season, is scheduled to get underway on Monday, March 1 and would run through Saturday, May 1. The spring sports season is scheduled to begin on Monday, April 19. 

“In response to the New York State Department of Health’s new guidance on sports, we are committed to working with our schools, parents and student-athletes to ensure all school sports are conducted as safely as possible,” said Ulster County Commissioner of Health Carol Smith in the county executives press release. But while the majority of school districts in Ulster County could likely play only other schools within the county, as a small city district, the Kingston City School District traditionally competes against other Class AA schools from other counties. And given the safety requirements, that could be a problem. 

“All of our opponents are Sullivan, Duchess and Orange (counties),” said Kingston Superintendent of Schools Paul Padalino. “So we’re looking at our county’s guidelines and then Orange County’s and others.” 

Padalino said that while he and athletic director Rich Silverstein continue looking into the logistics, the board of education has yet to discuss the matter; they meet for the first time since the high-risk sports announcement on Wednesday, February 3. 

The Kingston City school District (KCSD) is not alone in its apprehension. 

“All of the (local) AD’s were very surprised at the timing of the announcement as the Section 9 winter season must end by February 28, relegating the winter to one month,” said Dominic Zarrella, athletic director with the Saugerties Central School District (SCSD). 

Ulster County’s safety measures will require all athletes and coaches to answer Covid tracing questions and have temperature checks every day, with visiting teams facing similar requirements before leaving their school and upon arrival at a place of competition. All coaches and players not in direct participation will be required to wear masks at all times. Other recommendations include insurance policies for schools to cover high-risk sports, the restriction of travel to and from areas designated by the state as red and orange infection zones. High-risk tournaments involving multiple teams are also prohibited by the county. 

Zarrella said that the SCSD had previously determined that its winter season would be JV and varsity basketball only. 

“We were going to opt out of wrestling for a variety of reasons,” Zarrella said. “While everyone thinks it is important to offer our students athletics, our number-one priority is a safe learning environment. In Saugerties, we are positioned to do this safely but are very aware that a positive case could impact multiple districts.”

Padalino said he understood the need for the county’s recommendations and requirements, though it was still unclear whether the KCSD would be able to meet enough of them during the month of February to make a winter season possible. There are other considerations in Kingston as well: Kate Walton Field House is currently a Covid-19 vaccination center. 

“Our athletic director has been really working hard with our coaches to try to plan the logistics of this,” Padalino said. “I have a vaccination clinic in my field house, so where’s our basketball team going to practice and play?”

Like Saugerties, Padalino said he can see the potential for a brief basketball season, but not wrestling, at least not wrestling as usual. 

“We could look at basketball and say, okay, we think we can do this safely,” he said. “Wrestling, we don’t think we can. But our athletic director is creating a separate activity for our wrestling team, whether it is an intramural kind of thing or just a training program, maybe working with some college coaches with clinics and those kinds of things just amongst ourselves. We have several college-level wrestlers on our team and they’re losing a whole season, so just to get them something could be meaningful.” 

Padalino said that while there is a slight sense of urgency given the suddenness of the decision to allow high-risk winter sports to proceed within such a limited window, he expects the district will still proceed with deliberation. 

“We’re moving cautiously and carefully, and if the (school) board approves it, we’re going to try to do the best we can to have a safe environment for our students and give them something to do,” Padalino said. “It’s just one of those things where my heart says I want these kids to play sports because they need to do something, but my head says there’s a reason they call these sports high-risk. We’re not committed either way just yet, but we’re working towards being ready and making sure that we make a decision that’s in the best interest of our kids.”