Orange County private schools play unsanctioned football game despite COVID restrictions
The losing football coach called it a glorified scrimmage — though, given the winning coach’s tweet a day earlier, it certainly seemed as if it were more than that.
“Fired up to be 1-0 but more proud of the adversity these young men have pushed through and the challenge they have accepted,” Eric Preszler, the football coach and athletic director at Capistrano Valley Christian High School, tweeted Saturday afternoon.
Earlier that day, Capistrano Valley Christian and Calvary Chapel — two Orange County private schools — played a game while using school uniforms and equipment.
The matchup was in violation of California Department of Public Health guidelines, which states that youth team sports cannot be contested until at least Jan. 25, and possibly broke California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section rules.
“We are still looking into it,” Thom Simmons, a Southern Section spokesman, told the Orange County Register on Sunday. “However, the decision to allow athletic teams to resume is an individual school/school district/private school decision, following the guidelines developed by the California Department of Public Health and local health authorities.”
Ricky Rodriguez, the football coach at James Logan in Union City, said he’d heard rumblings about teams possibly going rogue but was blown away when he saw that a game was actually played.
“I personally think that this could open up Pandora’s box and make some of these private schools feel that they’re going to be allowed to do these things,” Rodriguez said Monday. “Everybody interprets the guidelines from the California Department of Public Health their own way and also the guidance that the CIF has sent out.
“If School A interprets it as it is football season and if we can abide by these policies and they’re not going to be enforced by the California Department of Public Health, I can see a lot of schools who financially can handle potential litigation end up playing.
“But from a public-school standpoint, I don’t see that happening at all. I personally wouldn’t be for that. … I just don’t think right now is the time to go out there and be rogue and put kids at potential risk without understanding the whole gamut of things and how we operate a game. I wouldn’t even know how to issue equipment right now. The fact that games are being played, I am pretty much blown away, to be honest with you.”
The game Saturday was played while Orange County is in the most restrictive tier (purple) in the state’s coronavirus reopening system and while the county is under stay-at-home orders.
A day before the teams played, parent-driven “Let Them Play” rallies were held at dozens of high schools across the state. Prep sports in California have been on pause for 10 months.
But even the most passionate high school football coaches in the push to convince California officials to ease COVID-19 restrictions are not calling for games now.
Serra coach Patrick Walsh, who has spoken to many media outlets about the importance of getting kids back onto playing fields in a safe manner since forming the Golden State HS Football Coaches Community in December, told the Los Angeles Times in a video podcast on Friday, “None of us in the Golden State High School Football Coaches Community and anyone who was at the rally tonight are suggesting that we should be playing tackle football Monday, Jan. 25th.
“None of our coaches are saying that. Matter of fact, speaking on behalf of all those coaches, I don’t think any one of us wants to start on Jan. 25th. It’s not the right time. I want people to know that we’re not just meathead coaches who want to run around and tackle people and get another victory or ring.
“This is about kids. Our love and passion for kids are coming out tonight. … Do we have some time to do this the right way? Do we have some time to hopefully (help) our frontline workers who are the real purple hearts in this whole thing — out there battling and fighting and doing the right things to hopefully slow the spread and save lives? If we can see this thing slow and start to come down, at that point, hopefully around mid-February, right around the first couple of weeks of February, hopefully, we can get thing launched and get our season started.”
Naturally, the game in Orange County sparked a wave of mixed reactions on social media.
One Twitter user called the action “courageous and wise.”
Another cited a “lack of concern” as Preszler’s tweet included a photo of the coaches not wearing masks while addressing the players.
Fired up to be 1-0 but more proud of the adversity these young men have pushed through and the challenge they have accepted. pic.twitter.com/nZKl92OuNN
— Eric Preszler (@EricPreszler) January 17, 2021
“It was more of a glorified scrimmage,” Calvary Chapel’s coach Pat McInally told the Register on Sunday. “There were no kickoffs, and no kicks at all, really. We had very limited parents (at the game) — mostly just parents. (It) was good for the kids, I think.”
McInally played 10 seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver and punter for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1976-85 and is a longtime Orange County coach.
“Our school has been following those rules,” McInally told the Register. “And I follow their (school administrators) lead.”
With California high school sports on pause, there have been reports of club football games over the past month. But the matchup Saturday was believed to be the first in the state between high school teams since the pandemic erupted 10 months ago.
“It just shows the inequities between private schools and public schools in high school athletics in the state of California,” Rodriguez said. “I could not imagine what would happen if a public school and a high school head coach tweeted out that they just played a high school contest during these times. I am baffled by how these club teams are able to operate right now.
“It’s tough to see and witness because we’ve been working so hard these past couple of months trying to get this data in the hands of the California Department of Public Health and the governor’s office to show that we can do this safely. Then when teams go out and blatantly disregard the guidance and all the things we’re fighting for, it kind of reflects poorly on us that are really trying to do it the right way.”