Holds press conference; introduces legislation
After a quiet fall, three high school sports were expected to start on Jan. 19. Swimming, indoor track and skiing were due to get underway this week.
That’s good news for local athletes. But Assemblyman Colin Schmitt would like to make it better. He is hoping to increase the options with legislation that would compel the state’s Department of Health and Department of Education to sanction all high school sports as long as precautions are taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On Thursday, Jan. 14, the Assemblyman strayed out of his district to hold a press conference in Smith Clove Park in Monroe. The event attracted municipal officials and a few football coaches. In spite of the winter chill, they met outdoors on the football field.
Mr. Schmitt is calling his proposal “Let them play,” which he borrowed from a “Bad News Bears” movie. When officials in the film tried to shoo the Bears off the diamond at the Astrodome, the crowd chanted “let them play” until the authorities finally relented.
The Assemblyman does not believe that letting teenagers play will endanger their health or anyone else’s. In a letter to Gov. Cuomo, Mr. Schmitt referred to the recent experience in Kentucky. “The data is on the side of letting our students play,” he wrote. “According to the Kentucky Football Coaches Association, which has had an interscholastic football season this year; there have been zero new cases of COVID-19. In your own State of the State Address you referenced the Bills’ playoff game which went off without a hitch. It is clear we can proceed, taking the right precautions, with all interscholastic sports not currently authorized.”
At his recent press conference, Mr. Schmitt touted sports as being critical to the holistic health and well-being of our youth. He noted that neighboring states (specifically, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut) are starting basketball this week while New York is not.
For most athletes, interscholastic competition ends in high school. Not many are able to continue their careers in college. After Cornwall won its second state championship in football, only three seniors made commitments to play at the next level. Two younger team members transferred to out-of-state schools so they could be on the field in the fall of 2020.
During the pandemic, Cornwall Little League held a summer and fall season. And Cornwall Youth Football played Sunday games in October and November. We did not hear if these programs contributed to the spread of the virus.
