DeWine on Contact Sports: We’ll have an announcement Tuesday

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“The waiting is the hardest part” – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Governor DeWine told reporters during his COVID-19 Response News Conference, he would address contact sports for Fall in his Tuesday session. Meanwhile, football and soccer teams across the state continue to practice for what they hope will be a season.

The Governor did however give a bit of a preview saying the decision would be made by parents and by schools. “We’re going to restrict the number of fans. We want the athletes to compete. We want the young people to have their season. But we want to do it as safely as possible, so this will be a little disruptive for some people.”

One of the priorities pertaining to fan participation, DeWine said his team wants to make sure parents can see their kids play, “and for the rest of us, we’ll have to hear about the game or maybe we can pick it up on the internet… But, it’s about the kids.”

The Governor delivered hope for the details to be worked out this weekend forTuesday’s News Conference. Soccer’s calendar permitted teams to have their first matches after August 21st, but they’ve been suspended until a decision from the Statehouse. Football’s regular season is set to begin the following week, with most teams across Southern Ohio set to play August 28th.

“We’ve been working with the Ohio High School Athletic Association to get it right, to provide guidelines to make it as safe as possible.” DeWine said he had a great deal of confidence in the coaches and plans to have a call with some of Ohio’s coaches over the next few days.

“They really have the opportunity not just in practice and not just in the game tom impress upon their athletes the importance of keeping their distance and being safe. But it’s also important what young people do when they’re not playing” referring to during their down time away from the playing fields.

“We always look to our coaches for leadership” DeWine continued, “in an era of the pandemic, leadership and fighting the coronavirus is probably their most important job this year.”