A COVID-19 case will force a Charlotte team to forfeit a shot at a state football title
Langston Wertz
Charlotte Country Day won’t get a chance to play for the North Carolina state football championship this season.
The Bucs will not be able to play Friday’s N.C. Independent Schools semifinal at Charlotte Christian after a player tested positive for COVID-19 with an off-campus exposure. Bucs athletic director Abe Wehmiller said the Country Day contract tracing team — made up of school administrators, school nurses and Atrium health professionals — determined that some other members of the team were “close contact cases.”
That led to the school asking those players to quarantine and undergo testing protocols.
“Given those circumstances,” Wehmiller wrote in an email to The Observer, “the team will not be able to compete in its scheduled NCISAA Division I semifinal game (Friday) against Charlotte Christian).”
Charlotte Christian, a three-time state champion, will advance to the Nov. 20 state final. The Knights will play either Providence Day (4-1) or Rabun Gap (6-1). Those teams will play in a semifinal at Providence Day at 7 p.m Friday.
Wehmiller said the school could not release any more information about the COVID-19 exposure or contract tracing due to medical privacy laws.
Bucs football coach Drew Witman said he was disappointed, especially for his seniors, whose high school careers will end with this news.
“This situation is tough,” he said, “but it comes at a time where we must be able to zoom in and zoom out. I hurt so deeply for our seniors right now, but I also look at how we were able to get this far and play five football games. I am so proud of this program and these young men who support each other and care deeply for one another. This was not anyone’s fault and could have happened anywhere. I am thankful for these seniors, the entire program, our coaches and administration. I know there are young men out there hurting right now I want them to know how much I love them.”
Langston Wertz
Charlotte Country Day won’t get a chance to play for the North Carolina state football championship this season.
The Bucs will not be able to play Friday’s N.C. Independent Schools semifinal at Charlotte Christian after a player tested positive for COVID-19 with an off-campus exposure. Bucs athletic director Abe Wehmiller said the Country Day contract tracing team — made up of school administrators, school nurses and Atrium health professionals — determined that some other members of the team were “close contact cases.”
That led to the school asking those players to quarantine and undergo testing protocols.
“Given those circumstances,” Wehmiller wrote in an email to The Observer, “the team will not be able to compete in its scheduled NCISAA Division I semifinal game (Friday) against Charlotte Christian).”
Charlotte Christian, a three-time state champion, will advance to the Nov. 20 state final. The Knights will play either Providence Day (4-1) or Rabun Gap (6-1). Those teams will play in a semifinal at Providence Day at 7 p.m Friday.
Wehmiller said the school could not release any more information about the COVID-19 exposure or contract tracing due to medical privacy laws.
Bucs football coach Drew Witman said he was disappointed, especially for his seniors, whose high school careers will end with this news.
“This situation is tough,” he said, “but it comes at a time where we must be able to zoom in and zoom out. I hurt so deeply for our seniors right now, but I also look at how we were able to get this far and play five football games. I am so proud of this program and these young men who support each other and care deeply for one another. This was not anyone’s fault and could have happened anywhere. I am thankful for these seniors, the entire program, our coaches and administration. I know there are young men out there hurting right now I want them to know how much I love them.”
