Lorain didn't feel comfortable sending kids to compete against other schools

LORAIN — As volatile as the information and opinions surrounding the novel coronavirus seem to be, Lorain Schools felt not enough had changed since sports were shut down in the spring. So football and other fall sports were canceled this week. "Throughout this whole process, I believe everybody from the administration to the school board has acted in what is the best interest of the kids," Lorain athletic director Bryan Koury said. "The challenge that we're facing and a lot of the concerns that we have in Lorain revolve around the fact that everybody throughout the state of Ohio is being provided different guidelines. More or less, no one seems to know what the best approach is to keep kids safe. "Over the course of the past few months, has anything changed? Do we feel any more comfortable about competing than we did two months ago? At least for me, in all honesty, I haven't seen anything change." Koury admits COVID-19 has challenged every facet of life, including something as basic as going to the store. Determining the proper protocols for playing contact sports — especially without the benefit of consistent testing — has remained elusive and inconsistent among schools. "If there was some kind of health matrix that would allow schools to be able to say definitively if we do X, Y and Z, we can keep kids safe," Koury said. "If that existed, I think we'd all be having sports in some way, shape or form. It may not look the same as we've had in past years but we would all have some type assemblage of sports. "The issue right now is, I don't know in good conscience we in Lorain could say we feel comfortable sending our team to another school to compete in a sport when we don't even know what their protocols are. We don't even know what they have in place to keep our kids — or our families, for that matter, that may be traveling to that contest — safe. Everybody is doing something different." Lorain competes in the Lake Erie League and a number of schools in the conference have already pulled the plug on the season. No football isn't unprecedented. Lorain schools canceled football in 1991 due to a several tax levy failures. At that time it affected three schools — Lorain, Admiral King and Southview. "Currently, when all the health professionals are saying 'competing against other schools is a bad idea,' it's very difficult and very challenging to be able to look at our kids and look at our parents and look at our coaches and say, 'even though all the health professionals are saying it's unsafe, we feel otherwise,'" Koury said. "I don't have a background in medicine. I don't have a background in science. I don't have a background in epidemiology. I'm more or less taking information provided by the health professionals and we sort through that to try to put the protocols in place to be able to keep kids safe." The Titans have a new football coach this year, James Boyeas, who was obviously eager to get started. He expressed that in a recent tweet. "As much as I tried to prepare myself for this moment...it was impossible," he tweeted. "The struggle I am experiencing is likely minuscule in comparison to the emotions that the student-athletes are experiencing. Know that I am always here for you! 100 100 #7strong #SteelCity" He continues to put the focus on the players. "I feel terrible for all the student-athletes of Lorain High that participate in fall sports, especially the seniors who may never have another opportunity to compete in the sport they love," he said. Volleyball and soccer were also canceled, but the final decision on cross country and golf has not been determined. "We in Lorain view volleyball as a contact sport, regardless of what anybody has said at the state level," Koury said. "That's the result of the information we've been provided by medical professionals. The contact may not be physical, the contact that is at the net between both teams would be no different than any other sport." "It's kind of a weight lifted," volleyball coach Chantille Jackson said. "We knew the potential of this way back in March when it first started. I called each athlete individually. I didn't want them reading about it and wondering. We appreciate the decision and understand that it's best for the athletes, coaches, parents and the community." Koury is hopeful that things will change and the virus concerns will ease. And sports can return. "We did anything and everything that we could to try and make this happen," he said. "The unfortunate reality is, we don't feel it's feasible at the moment. Things could change. There are no absolutes to this whole situation. We feel that golf is a sport that can be played with all the social distancing that are required. We feel that can be done safely. There may be some other things that we can do in Lorain, like activities in general, whether it be sport or any extracurricular activity that we can provide that could be deemed in our mind safe. What those are, we're trying to figure those out." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.