Tucson Schools Cancel High School Football Seasons
TUCSON, AZ — Nearly all Southern Arizona school districts, including Tucson's largest, have canceled their high school football seasons due to coronavirus concerns.
The Tucson Unified School District made the call Tuesday, following in the footsteps of the Vail, Marana, Amphitheater, Sahuarita, Flowing Wells, Sunnyside, Tanque Verde and Catalina Foothills School Districts. The cancellation was effective immediately.
Tucson Unified Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo wrote in a letter to the district that the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pima County Administrator’s Office and public-health recommendations issued by the Pima County Health Department.”
Tucson Unified also temporarily paused all winter sports and after-school performing arts rehearsals until at least Dec. 7.
The health department sent a memo to its school districts one day prior to recommend, but not require, the cancellation. The county also recommended a voluntary curfew for residents from now until Dec. 31, which asks them not to stay home between 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless a trip is essential or someone is experiencing an emergency.
"It is necessary to take this additional step due to the accelerating nature of the pandemic in our community," Pima County Health Director Theresa Cullen said in a statement. "While we appreciate the efforts of the majority of residents to slow the spread of the virus, a segment of the population continues to participate in social gatherings and resist the use of masks which exacerbates an already critical situation."
Pima County reported the highest single day total of new coronavirus infections since the beginning of the pandemic at 878 on Tuesday. Arizona reported 3,982 new cases Wednesday, as well as nine confirmed deaths.
Can’t wrap my head around the @pchd recommendations to shut down all sports. I can’t think of any group of 14-18 year olds taking better care of their bodies and being more safe than the ones in sports trying to get to another Friday night
— Ryan McBrayer (@Coach_McBrayer) November 24, 2020
Not everyone was on board with the cancellation. Sabino High School Head Coach Ryan McBrayer tweeted that he couldn't wrap his head around the health department's decision to end the football season early.
"Can’t wrap my head around the Pima County Health Department recommendations to shut down all sports," he wrote. "I can’t think of any group of 14-18 year olds taking better care of their bodies and being more safe than the ones in sports trying to get to another Friday night."
This article originally appeared on the Tucson Patch
