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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Without Phase 4, football may be scrapped
DAVENPORT – Uncertainty continues to surround athletics and extracurricular activities for the 2020-21 school year in Washington. In the Davenport school district, parents of children who are active participants in sports are hoping for those sports to be back to normal next school year.
Davenport High School football defensive coordinator John Douse, whose son plays football, basketball and baseball, said the coaching staff has heard that if Lincoln County isn’t in Phase 4 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s coronavirus-related state re-opening plan by the fall, football is unlikely. There’s also discussion of pushing fall sports into winter and spring seasons in 2021, cramming three sports seasons into two.
Like many other parents of young athletes, Douse just wants to see a return to normal. He doesn’t think the COVID-19 pandemic is “as bad as people are making it out to be.”
I don’t know anybody that’s gotten sick from it, I don’t know anybody that’s died from it,” Douse said. “Kids aren’t designed to be quarantined. They need to be out with their friends getting active.”
Summer Katz’s youngest daughter, who is involved in soccer, volleyball, basketball and softball, is going into 8th grade but will likely be playing at the high school level. Summer Katz said she “absolutely” hopes to see sports offered next year and would feel comfortable allowing her children to participate in close contact sports, such as football or competitive cheer.
“Kids learn so much by sports,” Katz said. “They learn compassion. They learn how to rely on someone else. They learn how to work as a team. They learn how to be good winners, and also how to be good losers and they build confidence and strong friendships.”
Robert Vaughn has three children involved in various basketball, soccer and baseball leagues across Lincoln County and Spokane. Vaughn also wants sports to return next year. He cited Lincoln County’s low positive COVID-19 tests. At press time, the county had only had four tests turn positive for the virus.
“The numbers are pretty low around here,” Vaughn said. “I see the stores busy and the streets busy.”
Josh Dehler’s little athlete is a bit younger. Dehler’s son just graduated kindergarten but has already participated in teeball, flag football and basketball. He said if sports aren’t offered in the Davenport area next year, his family will “seek opportunities elsewhere.”
“We do not feel it is fair to take the childhoods away from our children,” Dehler said. “In regards to COVID, I am not concerned at all. Normal concerns about injuries in close contact sports will always be there, but I’m simply not worried in the least about a virus that has been so overblown and irresponsibly reacted to.”
Vaughn noted that if a positive case of COVID-19 pops up among a student, coach or spectator at a game, common sense measures would need to be taken.
“Viruses do come and they go, and this one will pass also,” Vaughn said.
Katz and Dehler, meanwhile, said that positive COVID cases in a sports community should be treated like any “normal” sickness, such as the flu.
“I think it should be like any other sickness,” Katz said. “If you get it, go home and get better. Covid-19 is not a death sentence just by getting it. Most people recover fine from it.”
“The sick person should stay home until they are better, and everyone should continue washing their hands and using good hygiene practices, pandemic or not,” Dehler added.
To all parents The Times talked to, a return to sports is vital for their children’s emotional, cognitive and social development and overall well-being.
“For some, such as my daughter, she tries harder and does better in school because she knows she can’t play if her school work is not kept up (house rules and school rules),” Katz said. “But beyond that, she also has it in her now to not let her team down.”
“Children do not learn only from textbooks and lectures. They learn from experience, conflict, and example as well. Sports provide so much more than just fun for kids,” Dehler added. “The education of our children is of the utmost importance; it’s one of the most essential things in a civilized society. Removing a huge piece of a child’s education like this is not only irrational, it’s immoral.”
Douse thought of the perspective of those students who could miss out on their final chance to play with their teammates.
“I’d hate to see these kids lose their senior seasons,” Douse said.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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