ALLENTOWN (TNS) — The lights went on again Friday night in some high school football stadiums across Pennsylvania, the first games since the state Supreme Court ruled Gov. Tom Wolf couldn’t cap attendance at 250 people.
Wolf requested that the ruling be stayed until an appeal is heard. And I appeal to schools not to open the floodgates in the interim. Caution remains necessary.
But the 250 limit at an outdoor sporting event is overly cautious.
There are ways to safely accommodate more fans. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association anticipates that additional guidance will be issued soon by state officials. Here’s one plan it could follow.
At a stadium where football, soccer or field hockey games are played, fans in the stands should be counted separately from people on the field because they are far away from each other and don’t have contact.
If there are bleachers on both sides of the field, each should be allowed to have 250 people, seated socially distanced. With some stadiums having a capacity of more than 5,000 people, it could even be possible to section off each end of each grandstand to hold 250 fans safely, leaving plenty of room between the groups.
The field should be allowed to have 250 as well, which should be plenty for two teams, staff, officials and cheerleaders.
Many of these venues have a track between the bleachers and the field, serving as a natural barrier. Prohibit anyone from being on the track. If the field directly abuts the bleachers, prohibit fans from sitting in the first few rows.
Rope off a row of seats between spectators. Require groups to sit staggered so they aren’t directly behind one another. Require masks to be worn except when fans are eating.
Set up a concession stand and portable restrooms for each seating section so there’s no mingling, and prohibit people from leaving their area. Keep the band in its own area, not in the bleachers. After the game, the stadium should be emptied one section at a time.
Tickets should be allotted to players first for their families, then offered to students, and then to others. Everyone who gets a ticket is subject to removal for not following safety rules.
Apply that concept to other outdoor contests such as baseball and softball. Cross country shouldn’t be a problem as there’s plenty of room to space out along the course.
It will be more difficult to accommodate many fans at indoor sports, especially in gyms that have bleachers on only one side.
One solution might be to rotate fans. That’s how it’s done at my son’s indoor swim meets — a club team, not varsity. Most pools have limited bleacher seating, so families sit in the gym or cafeteria until their child’s race. Then they head to the stands to watch, and leave when that race is over to allow other parents to fill in.
There are many logistics to consider. You’d need to set up a traffic flow so fans heading in and out of the seating area are not creating a crowd. Seating in gyms and cafeterias would have to be limited, too. I don’t know if that idea is practical under the circumstances, or if that plan will still be used during my son’s upcoming swim season if it’s held, but I’m throwing it out there for consideration.
State lawmakers want to allow each school district to decide how many fans it can safely accommodate at sporting events. House Bill 2787 would exempt districts from the governor’s 250-person limit if safety protocols were followed, including that fans wear masks and socially distance. Wolf has threatened to veto the bill. He has until Monday to do so. The bill was supported by Republicans and Democrats, so lawmakers might be able to override a veto.
I don’t like the idea of allowing each district to decide. I fear some would go too far and allow too many people in, for the revenue or to make a political statement. But, on the other hand, the state allowed each district to decide how to handle teaching during the crisis, so there’s an argument to be made that each district should be able to call the shots on school-related activities, too.
Some people will grumble that the scenario I suggest for football and other outdoor sports is too much work to set up, or that the rules are too onerous to follow.
If parents want to watch their kids play, they have to be willing to compromise.
(Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 484-280-2909 or paul.muschick@mcall.com.)
