SPORTS

High School athletes keep wary eye on COVID-19

BY ZACH ALVIRA AND DREW SCHOTT

Arizonan Sports Staff

The Arizona Interscholastic Association’s new COVID-19 guidelines for the 2021-22 high school sports season caused a stir among athletes and coaches.

Some of the key changes from last year’s guidelines open the opportunity for players with no symptoms to present negative tests to come out of quarantine after 10 days rather than 14. It also allows teams to have a shorter quarantine period as a whole – 10 days from last known exposure– if an outbreak were to occur.

With the high school football season only two weeks away, a key section in the document has stirred up the most interest: vaccinated coaches and players no longer have to quarantine as long as they do not present symptoms of the virus.

“We worked with our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee,” AIA Executive Director David Hines said. “They are our doctors, and they are in tune with what is going on across the board. Vaccinations are available, that wasn’t the case last year. Just about all of our athletes are old enough to receive the shot.

“The intention is, really, we would like to have teams not cancel games.”

Tempe Union now requires athletes in indoor sports to wear masks but is making face coverings optional for players in outdoor sports. Chandler Unified is following the disputed law banning mandates and making masks optional for students and staff. “Communication makes the world go Chandler head football coach Rick Garretson said communication with his players has been key this season as COVID-19 cases are once again on the rise. While he hasn’t mandated, he explained the benefits of masking in school, which all of his players have de-

cided to do. (Pablo Robles/Arizonan Staff) seeVACCINES page 30

Cox YurView to air ‘40 years of Arizona High School Football’ celebrating history of game

BY ZACH ALVIRA

Arizonan Sports Editor

Cox YurView AZ is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first televised Arizona high school football game on its network this year with a 22-minute documentary detailing the last four decades of the sport.

“40 years of Arizona High School Football” features legendary coaches and teams, including Mountain View, McClintock, Saguaro, Chandler, St. Mary’s, Brophy, Centennial and many more. Rich Reid, who has produced high school football games for Cox since he was hired in 1998, lent a helping hand in the documentary.

He said they wanted to show how the sport has evolved and to honor the vision George Allen had when he came up with the idea to broadcast Friday night football games alongside current Arizona Diamondbacks radio play-by-play announcer Greg Schulte.

“With the show, we really wanted to show the viewers how high school football has evolved and developed,” Reid said. “It was George’s idea to broadcast high school football. He passed away in 2015 and in my opinion, he never really got the credit he deserves for escalating high school sports here in Arizona. This is a way for us to show that appreciation to his family and give George his props. “Without George, it wouldn’t be like it is today.” The documentary encompasses the highs and lows of high school football the last 40 years, from championship wins to defeats. One of the best championships to ever be aired by Cox, the 2003 5A-1 triple-overtime state title game between Hamilton and Mountain View, is one game featured in the documentary.

YurView Production Coordinator Randi Carson sorted through hundreds of video tapes to bring the documentary together. It features players such as Hamilton alum and future NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Suggs from the 1990s and current Arizona Cardinals wideout and Saguaro alum Christian Kirk, among several others.

It will also bring to light some of the best rivalries in the state, including St. Marys vs Brophy -- resurrected this season -- and the Tukee Bowl featuring Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista.

“Rivalries are what really fuel high school football,” Reid said. “You can have a bad season but if you beat your rival, you have bragging rights. This show was

Hamilton’s triple-overtime championship win over Mountain View in 2003 is one of the premier matchups featured in Cox YurView AZ’s new documentary, “40 years of Arizona High School Football,” set to air Aug. 16. (File Photo)

round,” Chandler head football coach Rick Garretson said. “We have that ultimate communication and Jim Culver is very in tune with being proactive on things. We try to stay ahead of the game so that we don’t have things… that would close a team down for a week or two.”

Garretson, as well as Chandler High School Athletic Director Jim Culver, have spoken with the Wolves about ways to be proactive and safe in a state averaging more than 2,000 daily cases, according to The New York Times. yet Garretson recently said all of his players were wearing masks indoors. Garretson can’t force a player to be vaccinated or ask about their vaccination status. According to Garretson – who is vaccinated – 90 percent of his Varsity staff is vaccinated.

But he can tell by the looks on his player’s faces that they understand the implications of the pandemic on high school football.

Last season, Garretson followed the protocols created by Culver and District Athletic Director Marcus Williams, now an Associate Athletic Director at Arizona State. In the meantime, he advises his players not to come to practice if they feel ill. To return to practice, Garretson said a player should take an over-thecounter COVID-19 test.

With the Delta variant rapidly spreading across the United States, the pandemic has recently impacted high school football programs in the East Valley. Higley and Desert Vista’s football programs paused competition due to COVID-19 outbreaks on Aug. 4 and Aug. 9, respectively.

“I haven’t heard much about COVID until the last couple of weeks,” Garretson said. “You just got to adhere to what the protocol is and follow suit and make sure our kids work as a team in regards to that as well (as) keeping each other safe, keeping their families and keeping our staff safe.

“There’s guidelines, but ultimately the

COX from page 29

a good way to go back and re-live the glory days.”

Cox YurView AZ’s “40 years of Arizona High School Football” aired Aug. 16 on Cox YurView web and Cox YurView cable Ch. 4. It will continue to air Mondays at 11:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 10 p.m. Garretson said he and 90 percent of his staff is vaccinated against COVID. As for his players, he is leaving that up to them and their families. But he knows the benefits that could come from it based on the new AIA guidelines and those set forth by Chandler Unified

School District. ((Pablo Robles/Arizonan Staff)

boys understand how we’re going about our business. Those guys put in a lot of work to all of a sudden let something come along the lines of the COVID situation.”

Elsewhere in the East Valley, coaches are taking similar tones with athletes and their families.

Gilbert head football coach Derek Zellner has had conversations with his wife and kids about the family’s safety and overall health.

As for his football program, he has stopped short of making any recommendations.

“We do our best to preach hygiene, hand sanitizer, safe decisions, washing hands,” Zellner said. “When we’re not together I tell them, ‘Hey, be smart, make good choices. Don’t make any dumb decisions that’s going to jeopardize your season or any games for yourself or any of your teammates.’”

Mesa wrestling coach David DiDomenico, who navigated his team through the season virtually unscathed last year, has had honest conversations with his athletes, informing them of their options. Like many coaches, he fears overstepping boundaries.

One of his main concerns will come during the season when he once again becomes his program’s COVID point of contact.

“How do I ask them if they are vaccinated?” DiDomenico said. “I don’t think that’s any of my business, but it’s something I will have to ask. As a head coach I think it’s one more thing we have to do, and we can’t really delegate it.”

Saguaro head basketball coach Lucas Ramirez has kept an open dialogue with his players about vaccines. He’s told them it could be key to a somewhat normal season. But he remains neutral.

While Ramirez is vaccinated himself, he knows it’s ultimately a decision families have to make on their own. His job is to support them and the rest of the Saguaro community.

“We are one community,” Saguaro head basketball coach Lucas Ramirez said. “But at the end of the day, there are choices that every student-athlete and their families have to make and whatever that decision is, hopefully they think it’s the best decision for themselves, their family, their team and the school community as a whole.”

Even when teams do all they can to avoid breakouts, it may not be enough. Saguaro’s football program can attest to that.

Last season, the Sabercats saw their season come to a premature end due to an outbreak. They had to forfeit their opening round Open Division playoff game against Salpointe Catholic. It was the first time in seven years Saguaro didn’t play for a championship, and it was due to something virtually out of their control.

“It hurt,” Saguaro coach Jason Mohns said last year after the forfeit. “It was tough news to share to the team. Our kids, I’ve been proud of them the whole way. I was proud of the way they handled it. They were upset, they were disappointed, but I think they understood it was a risk we took at the beginning of the year to play football in a pandemic.”

Several programs have already felt the effects of rising cases and a more infectious variant, including two in the East Valley.

Desert Vista recently came back from a 10-day quarantine after six cases were confirmed positive on the varsity and junior varsity programs and 16 others were identified as close contacts. Higley’s junior varsity and varsity teams are due back from a 10-day quarantine on Tuesday after “multiple” confirmed positive cases were identified.

Hines estimates well over 90 percent of all sports contests were played last season – a number he was happy with given the circumstances. This year, he hopes for no cancellations.

“Whatever normal is nowadays, we want that,” Hines said. “We want more students to be involved, participation numbers up and more support for those athletes from their classmates. It was great to see in the spring people supporting these kids. We want to build on that.”

until GameTime replays begin on Aug. 30, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 9:30 p.m. and Fridays at 10 p.m.

Cox also announced its schedule of high school football games for the 2021 season, beginning Friday, Sept. 3 with the five-time defending champion Chandler Wolves hosting West Valley power Centennial.

Full Cox Yurview AZ football schedule

Sept. 3: Centennial at Chandler Sept. 10: Bye week Sept. 17: Liberty at Sunrise Mountain Sept. 24: Notre Dame at Brophy Oct. 1: Queen Creek at Williams Field Oct. 8: Desert Edge at Cactus Oct. 15: Sierra Canyon at Saguaro (or bye week) Oct. 22: Horizon at Saguaro (or bye week) Oct. 29: Desert Vista at Mountain View Nov. 5: Centennial at Chaparral Nov. 12: Chandler at Hamilton Nov. 19: First round playoffs