CBE and Catholic school board put high school sports on pause due to COVID-19

Calgary students who play high school sports will have to wait to find out if their season is a go.

The Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association announced it would postpone the start of all fall sports this September while the schools focus on back to class amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move was made in consultation with the Calgary Board of Education, the Calgary Catholic School District and Alberta Health Services, according to an announcement on the association's website. It says the pause on sports includes "any type of organized meeting, conditioning or skill development sessions, tryouts and practices."

Pat Harrigan, executive director for the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association, says because of all the "moving parts" and unknowns at the start of this school year, it was best to put sports on hold.

"Unlike some of the minor sport organizations which are in business to provide sports, ours is … education first," he said.

The executive team of the association, along with its members, are made up of principals from both school boards.

The Calgary association could come back with a decision on or before Oct. 1 he said.

"If we get two and half, three weeks in and everything is as smooth as it could possibly be and better than hoped, then that's something to re-evaluate and look to bring in the athletic piece after sort of the dust settles," Harrigan said.

"We made the decision on the idea that we're doing what's best for the greater good … the worst-case scenario would be coming back too soon."

High school teams are allowed to return in Alberta, but the decision is left up to each school board. Earlier in August, the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association put out a "Safe Return to High School Athletics" guideline.

Some people worry about what paused athletics will mean for the short football season.

Anita Wylie's son plays football for the Henry Wise Wood Warriors.

She's launched a petition directed at Alberta's Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange in support of athletic clubs to start in September. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had 567 signatures. There's also a similar student-created petition circulating with a growing number of signatories. As of about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, it had 964 signees.

"As a parent, it's very frustrating. I don't understand how you could have classes like physical education moving forward in the first semester but a delay on athletics," Wylie told CBC's Calgary Eyeopener.

Wylie said, in particular, it's confusing to see other sports cohorts in the community go ahead, along with school districts in other Alberta cities.

"It is definitely a mixed message … I mean, for sure there's an inherent risk with them opening schools up. But you've got all of these kids intermingling in classes, so it doesn't make sense then there isn't the option for the clubs or the sports to go ahead."

She says it might affect the chances for students looking to get filmed playing football for scholarships or recruitment by U.S. university teams, for example.

Wylie says this is a case of politics getting in the way since she argues if it weren't, there would be consistency in sports across the province.

Mateo Gramaglia is going into Grade 12 and is a linebacker with MCLA Football (a joint team representing Father Lacombe High school and Bishop McNally High School). He has signed Wylie's petition.

"You spend the whole summer training, getting ready for [the] season starting in August," he said.

While he says it gives him more time to train on his own mostly, he doesn't think it necessarily benefit students.

"We're in a different mental state at this time of the year, just getting ready for the season, and preparing, getting our bodies ready," he said.

He says the last football game he played in was last November.

Gramaglia says that since football scouting is film-based, he worries that it could hurt his chances of getting footage to show to university recruiters.

"It doesn't really provide an equal opportunity for universities to scout us," he said.

When it comes to risks for contracting COVID-19 while playing football, Gramaglia says he isn't much more worried of the risk than just going to classes.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.