THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Reward of prep football still worth the precautions
Other than limited crowds, some social distancing and the folks who wore masks, Week 1 of the high school football season in North Idaho last Friday looked pretty much like Week 1 of high school football in any other season.
Most of the focus last week was on Lake City High, where officials blocked off every other row with caution tape to "encourage" social distancing, and Lake City coaches wore face coverings during the game.
But admittedly, though some fans took advantage of the grassy, hilly areas around the field and sat in lawn chairs, there probably wasn't as much social distancing as school officials or health officials would have liked.
Restrictions were also in place in Sandpoint, at Timberlake and in Plummer.
AT TIMBERLAKE, since the Lakeland School District was still in the Orange (substantial risk) category last week, the Tigers' game vs. South Fremont from southeastern Idaho was open only to family members.
There were an estimated 400 to 500 fans at Van Tuinstra Memorial Field for last Friday's game (which was actually a doubleheader, beginning with a junior varsity game between the two teams), including 50 to 100 folks who traveled up from South Fremont.
"I would say it was about half the crowd of a usual varsity home football game," Timberlake athletic director Tim Cronnelly said.
Cronnelly said he makes sure to let the opposing school know beforehand what the restrictions are when they play at Timberlake.
As for the social distancing ...
"We’re not the police force," he said with a laugh. "We just let ’em know what our expectations are. We’re not going to run through the crowd and ask who’s related to who.”
The Lakeland School District has since moved to the Yellow (moderate risk) level. This week, Timberlake plays at Lakeland, it's in-district rival, on Friday, so while masks and social distancing are still recommended, the restrictions on number of fans has been relaxed.
AT LAKESIDE, only fans with connections to Lakeside athletes can attend games in person. The Knights are not allowing visiting fans, for now.
"We aren’t allowing visiting fans because we had to limit our numbers in our gym and I didn’t want to have to turn away a parent who drove, in some cases, two hours from our games," Lakeside athletic director Jerel Hight said.
"Our current setup is that athletes were given the option to purchase a season-long pass for four people per game," Hight added. "Those four people can attend the game and must sit together in a pod, with each pod distanced away from other pods. Masks are required for anyone in our gym or on the field."
He said for football games, fans can park around the outside of the field and watch from their cars. Volleyball is a little more restrictive, but the school has started to live-stream its events, so fans can watch online.
"I understand we (have) one of the most restrictive procedures in the region, but our ultimate goal is get through the season," Hight said.
THIS WEEK, Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls host football games for the first time this season — Coeur d'Alene vs. Sandpoint, and Post Falls vs. Rigby from southeastern Idaho.
Coeur d'Alene, for one, also has restrictions on crowd size (attendance capped at 1,250; Lake City, which hosts Lewiston in a nonleague game Friday, has capped its crowd at 1,500), so there could still be some grumbling from non-family members who are shut out.
Remember, it was nearly six months ago that this pandemic pretty much shut down sports, wiping out the spring high school sports season, so masking up and social distancing shouldn't be too much to ask, by comparison, for the kids to have a chance to play this fall — and beyond.
"It’s tough to complain — March was a long time ago," Cronnelly said.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.
