College Sports During a Pandemic, Smart Move?

By Joyce Ng

Arcadia High School

On January 1, 2021, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas the 107th playing of the Rose Bowl Game was commenced. The game was played between Alabama and Notre Dame with 18,373 people in attendance.

This was the first time since 1942 that the playing of the Rose Bowl was outside of Pasadena, California, and for questionable reasons. The game was originally planned to be played at the Rose Bowl Stadium, however, in early December announcements were made that it would be held behind closed doors without any fans as per California Governor Gavin Newson’s response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

According to a statement by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, due to “the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Southern California along with the inability to host player and coach guests at any game in California” all appeals for a special exemption were denied. As a result, the Alabama-Notre Dame semifinal, as Selection Committee chairman Gary Barta told ESPN, was moved to Arlington in which local officials permitted a whopping 16,000 fans- - ignoring health officials’ concerns of the annual playoffs being too dangerous to be held with spectators.

And this is only one of many instances where college athletic programs have disregarded warnings about the rise in coronavirus cases associated with a live audience. During the 2020 football season, a great number of college stadiums allowed thousands of fans where adherence to mask and safety protocols was displayed in varying degrees. To some, this shows that certain sports -- particularly the profitable ones-- are being prioritized above public health.

Now, with college officials shifting their attention to basketball, the stakes are even higher. Already a considerably more intimate sport compared to football, college basketball is also the first major indoor sport to try going a season without the restrictive “player bubbles” seen implemented by professional leagues. It is as if these student-athletes are now being held up to the same standard as essential workers, minus the paycheck.

With an average daily number of 7,520 new COVID cases in the U.S (reported by the CDC), college administrators are unnecessarily putting their students at risk. Granted, athletes are given the option to opt-out of the season in exchange for another scholarship year, but the glory of competing and pressure from peers often make it much harder to surrender. Besides, the choice between sport and health shouldn’t be forced upon the students in the first place.

Every day the coronavirus continues its path of destruction throughout the country. Space in hospitals is disappearing faster and faster while death tolls are rising higher and higher. After a haphazardly handled football season, it would be foolish for college and university officials to proceed with basketball in the same manner. Perhaps putting the safety of their players and their communities first would be the wiser choice.