This is the time, Keenan Sue believes, to flip out.
The Punahou baseball coach read the National Federation of High Schools’ 16-page recommendations to high schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reopening of schools this fall. The NFHS’ grouping of sports according to risk prompted Sue to chime in.
“I think they should flip the fall and spring seasons,” said Sue, who guided the Buffanblu to the 2019 state title. “They could make a bold move.”
The 2020 spring season was halted and cancelled due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Sue worries that another spring season, in 2021, could be cancelled again. Switching seasons would make sense, he says. Football, one of the fall sports, is categorized as "higher risk" by the NFHS.
“Here’s what would be unfair: if boys volleyball, softball, track and field, and baseball miss two years in a row. It would be unfair if fall and winter sports got to have their seasons, but somehow spring sports athletes miss two years of their careers. That’s not OK, so there’s got to be some consideration of that,” he said. “Is it a perfect world? No, but that would be devastating.”
In yesterday’s announcement, the NFHS designated baseball, softball, boys volleyball and track and field as lower- to moderate-risk sports. Sue stays in touch with his players, and he appreciates the way they have handled the crisis.
“For this 2020 class, sports is for enrichment and character development. Even though they missed their senior (spring sports) year, this is actual adversity. Going 0-for-4, not making the starting lineup, that’s kind of low-stakes adversity.
They missed prom, graduation, hanging out with their friends. They will grow from this. They will not take things for granted. Ultimately, they’re going to be stronger because of this,” Sue said. “If we’re going to fight to have sports, it will be to have a venue where these kids can learn from adversity and grow, and that’s worth fighting for. That’s my general stance on it. It’s ancillary. It’s not critical to the economy. But it’s worth fighting for.”
If the traditional order of seasons ensues with the 11-week limits as announced by the HHSAA on Monday, baseball will do fine, barring the possibility of another outbreak in spring.
Switching seasons, as many coaches in multiple sports have advocated, comes with other challenges.
“It wouldn’t hurt the blue-chip athletes for football and baseball. The big-time programs are offering scholarships by junior or sophomore year. We don’t have that many blue-chip (baseball) players in Hawaii, but it affects the bubble guys. There’s also a backlog for baseball because of the eligibility thing (due to COVID-19 cancelling spring season),” Sue noted.
A spring or winter football season in Hawaii and other states has the possibility of costing athletes opportunities if the college game doesn’t change letter-of-intent signing dates.
“The timing for scholarships, if it isn’t coordinated for college, it would be difficult. For baseball and volleyball, I don’t know the landscape, but there probably aren’t as many men’s volleyball college programs,” Sue said.
The effects of COVID-19 are hitting college baseball.
“Bowling Green just cancelled their baseball program. So did Furman. Those are the first two big ones, and there’s JUCOs. There’s a bunch to come, for sure,” he said.
In Hawaii, a shorter spring season is bearable.
“We’ll be fine. They play more baseball in the summer time than the spring. The ILH and OIA season is short, comparatively. The recruiting landscape has changed, but travel ball has taken over the mainland and with our guys, they dig out for the mainland (in the summer). American Legion, which has been a pillar of the summer baseball scene, has been diluted. It’s been harder for some teams to field full rosters. It used to be the only game in town, but it’s not like that anymore. If the spring season is shorter, it is what it is. The kids will still get their college exposure on the mainland. The kids who are really good, they know who the blue-chip guys are.”
But the case for baseball in the fall remains.
“It’s already socially distant like golf. Maybe when you’re at bat, you wear a mask,” Sue said. “The umpire. The catcher.”
Whenever baseball and softball do resume, coaches will have to adjust to social distancing. The NFHS is clear about all precautions in “Phase 1.”
“The harder part is practice. The kids are around each other every day. I think the games are low risk. It’s more like are the boys exposing themselves on a daily basis. It depends on what you believe about the virus,” Sue said. “It’s not like baseball and football are essential to the economy to survive, but is it really worth incurring the risk of even one kid getting sick when it’s extracurricular. That’s the consideration. But baseball in the fall? We’d love it.”
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