High school seniors who participate in spring sports should be given the option to participate in their sport for three weeks in May and that decision should be made by the athletes and their parents rather than by the board of directors at the Utah High School Athletic Association. As I have talked to parents and senior class student athletes at our high school, the universal experience has been that the kids have been good-spirited in the face of everything they have lost — missing the last three months of their senior year, weekends with friends, senior prom and even most of their sports season.
The most difficult part of this for these student athletes was the day the UHSAA eliminated the season altogether. These kids have been playing their sport for several years, looking forward to the chance to play in the state tournament as a senior. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The rationale for the statewide stay-at-home order has always been to flatten the curve. Utah has done that. State officials are actively planning to reboot the economy in May. Our health systems are in a strong position and a surge is not expected in Utah.
If people are going back to work in May, let the athletes and their families decide on the risks for a small number of student athletes to be out on a field. Let families sign waivers, ask fans to sit six feet apart, ask athletes about symptoms, administer tests if needed, but give these seniors one thing to remember about their senior year — other than what they lost.
Move this decision from a board of directors to the athletes and their parents.
Jeff Christensen, Millcreek