One Charlotte-area private school is shutting down football this fall. Here’s why.
BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
AUGUST 21, 2020 03:15 PM
Next week, the N.C. Independent Schools’ Board of Trustees is set to have a meeting that will help determine the future of high school football and all of fall sports for the state’s 97 private schools.
But one Mecklenburg County school will not play football, no matter what the board decides.
This week, SouthLake Christian School shut down its high school football program for the fall. School officials didn’t feel playing football in a pandemic is safe.
“You can’t play football and follow CDC or (N.C.) Health Department guidelines,” said SouthLake Christian headmaster Dr. Matthew Kerlin, who is starting his third year at the school.
Many of the state’s other private schools are pushing ahead with non-contact football workouts in hopes that official practice can begin soon.
Kerlin said basic protocols around social distancing and wearing masks is not possible with football.
“Every list compiled by our athletic association includes football as the highest risk sport for viral transmission,” Kerlin said. “With all of its resources, the NFL has struggled to figure this out. College football can’t figure out how to do it and it has immense resources, too. I don’t feel high schools can do it.”
Nationally, some states have decided to push ahead with high school football and other fall sports. Utah had the nation’s first high school football game last week. Friday night, games were scheduled to kick off in 12 states, including 152 games in Alabama.
North Carolina’s public schools have joined at least seven other states in postponing high school football until 2021. The first N.C. public school sports will be volleyball and cross-country, which will start in November. Football kicks off in February, as officials are hoping the pandemic will be under control by then and perhaps a vaccine will be available.
Last week, Homar Ramirez, executive director of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association, said the state’s private schools could begin to play in low-risk sports the week of Sept. 8 and moderate-risk sports the week after. Ramirez has noted several times that these plans could change.
Low-risk sports are cross-country, golf and tennis. Moderate risk sports are volleyball, field hockey and soccer. Official practices have already begun.
The potential start of football, what Ramirez termed a high-risk sport, is still being discussed, and a decision could come after Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting. The board, Ramirez said, is comprised of seven heads of school from throughout North Carolina.
Ramirez said he was not aware of any headmasters voicing concerns about football the way Kerlin had.
“That hasn’t been shared with me,” Ramirez said, “but I don’t want to discount that there’s concerns. We have prefaced every decision thus far as saying ‘Dates and plans are subject to change.’ ”
Ramirez said the NCISAA has 19 schools that play 11-man football, 17 that play eight-man football and two additional schools that play 11-man but not as part of the association.
But Kerlin believes those number might change for fall football.
“There are other heads of school of private schools who agree (with me),” he said, “and I think you’ll see as schools reopen and fight this fight, they will have positive students on campus and have to do contact tracing and have temporary closures and you’ll see the dominoes start to fall. It’s just science. It’s not really a matter of opinion or a feeling.”
Kerlin said he’s allowing his football team to continue doing what he called “weather acclimating and fitness training,” which involves no contact. He said the school is also allowing tennis, cross-country and soccer to move forward. He said the school is waiting for more safety protocols from the NCISAA before making a decision about volleyball.
Kerlin said he would revisit his football decision if there were some “imminent medical breakthrough” that would allow the sport to be played safely, but said he felt it was important to make a decision regarding the sport now.
“I think you may have some of our football players play other sports,” he said, “and we haven’t given up. There’s a possibility that there could be a spring season of some kind, but we just felt like if we keep stringing our students along and delaying the season and delaying the season, they lose the ability to explore their options, like other sports or leagues, and we just aren’t willing to take a risk that would shut our school down.
BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR.
AUGUST 21, 2020 03:15 PM
Next week, the N.C. Independent Schools’ Board of Trustees is set to have a meeting that will help determine the future of high school football and all of fall sports for the state’s 97 private schools.
But one Mecklenburg County school will not play football, no matter what the board decides.
This week, SouthLake Christian School shut down its high school football program for the fall. School officials didn’t feel playing football in a pandemic is safe.
“You can’t play football and follow CDC or (N.C.) Health Department guidelines,” said SouthLake Christian headmaster Dr. Matthew Kerlin, who is starting his third year at the school.
Many of the state’s other private schools are pushing ahead with non-contact football workouts in hopes that official practice can begin soon.
Kerlin said basic protocols around social distancing and wearing masks is not possible with football.
“Every list compiled by our athletic association includes football as the highest risk sport for viral transmission,” Kerlin said. “With all of its resources, the NFL has struggled to figure this out. College football can’t figure out how to do it and it has immense resources, too. I don’t feel high schools can do it.”
Nationally, some states have decided to push ahead with high school football and other fall sports. Utah had the nation’s first high school football game last week. Friday night, games were scheduled to kick off in 12 states, including 152 games in Alabama.
North Carolina’s public schools have joined at least seven other states in postponing high school football until 2021. The first N.C. public school sports will be volleyball and cross-country, which will start in November. Football kicks off in February, as officials are hoping the pandemic will be under control by then and perhaps a vaccine will be available.
Last week, Homar Ramirez, executive director of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association, said the state’s private schools could begin to play in low-risk sports the week of Sept. 8 and moderate-risk sports the week after. Ramirez has noted several times that these plans could change.
Low-risk sports are cross-country, golf and tennis. Moderate risk sports are volleyball, field hockey and soccer. Official practices have already begun.
The potential start of football, what Ramirez termed a high-risk sport, is still being discussed, and a decision could come after Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting. The board, Ramirez said, is comprised of seven heads of school from throughout North Carolina.
Ramirez said he was not aware of any headmasters voicing concerns about football the way Kerlin had.
“That hasn’t been shared with me,” Ramirez said, “but I don’t want to discount that there’s concerns. We have prefaced every decision thus far as saying ‘Dates and plans are subject to change.’ ”
Ramirez said the NCISAA has 19 schools that play 11-man football, 17 that play eight-man football and two additional schools that play 11-man but not as part of the association.
But Kerlin believes those number might change for fall football.
“There are other heads of school of private schools who agree (with me),” he said, “and I think you’ll see as schools reopen and fight this fight, they will have positive students on campus and have to do contact tracing and have temporary closures and you’ll see the dominoes start to fall. It’s just science. It’s not really a matter of opinion or a feeling.”
Kerlin said he’s allowing his football team to continue doing what he called “weather acclimating and fitness training,” which involves no contact. He said the school is also allowing tennis, cross-country and soccer to move forward. He said the school is waiting for more safety protocols from the NCISAA before making a decision about volleyball.
Kerlin said he would revisit his football decision if there were some “imminent medical breakthrough” that would allow the sport to be played safely, but said he felt it was important to make a decision regarding the sport now.
“I think you may have some of our football players play other sports,” he said, “and we haven’t given up. There’s a possibility that there could be a spring season of some kind, but we just felt like if we keep stringing our students along and delaying the season and delaying the season, they lose the ability to explore their options, like other sports or leagues, and we just aren’t willing to take a risk that would shut our school down.
