Navigating a New World: High School Football and the Classroom During COVID-19. A matter of life and death for some.

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TC Jones | August 4, 2020

Navigating a New World: High School Football and the Classroom During COVID-19

Suhail Gillard, Mastery Charter.
Quameer Knight, George Washington.
Kristian Marche, Imhotep.
Jahsun Patton, Boys Latin.
Messiah Chiverton, Frankford.
Zion Vaughan, Penn Wood.
Jayvon Pendleton, Imhotep.
Angelo Walker, Frankford

These are the names of young children lost to violence in the city of Philadelphia. That group alone numbers more than those of that age group who have been killed by Covid-19 in Pennsylvania. This is a story about the difficulties we are encountering, and how losing fall sports this fall could amplify the situation.

You’ve heard it in passing; on the sidewalk, in line waiting for a morning coffee, maybe even at the local school board meeting. There are plenty of people claiming that kids don’t need football. And now, with COVID-19 still raging throughout the country, these voices have been amplified.

On the surface, the argument seems sound. Football is just a game, right? It’s not like math, English, and science; disciplines that offer the mental tools and knowledge for future intellectual growth and employment. And from a public health perspective, there’s evidence stating that it’s best to keep large gatherings to a minimum. And in an age of educational budget cuts, and a switch to digital distanced learning for many school districts, the call for shutting down high school football is getting louder.

What these arguments fail to realize is that football not only instills intangible values like teamwork, determination, and work ethic, but the sport is often the primary avenue that opens access to the classroom and to higher education.

Bill Sytsma, the Head Football coach for Frankford High School, says football is more than just a sport for kids, it’s a lifeline. “The most important thing that we have to do is we cannot do what we did in the spring, we shut everything down all the activities and these kids had nothing to lean on. That just leaves them on the streets and we just can’t do that”. Sytsma recently lost a player to gun violence. Angelo Walker was riding his bike and was hit by gunfire and killed in early July. That was the second time the Frankford coach was touched by a death of a youth to violence. In 2017, Messiah Chiverton was shot and killed.

He stressed the importance that a coaching staff plays in a high school athletes life. “We as coaches are mentors to these kids and we can see when they’re going through some thing and help them through the situation. I don’t think people realize how many of these kids don’t have parents because they have to work and they’re on their own. We can’t take a chance in missing those signs.”

“When people hear the term “in the streets” they’re thinking maybe it’s gangs but it’s not it’s just I lost my kid and he was 400 feet from his house just riding his darn bike down the street and he got hit by gunfire. They think it’s some kind of figure of speech like some alternative lifestyle and that’s not what were even talking about here we’re just talking about keeping them off the street giving them something to do” said Systma.

“The fact that people are having trouble understanding that sports need to happen for this upcoming academic school year is frustrating to many of us as coaches,” says Cheltenham High School head football coach Ryan Nase. “Athletics is an extension of the classroom. There are lessons learned on the field that just can’t be taught anywhere else.”

Fact is, there are plenty of high school kids throughout Pennsylvania who might have dropped out of high school if it wasn’t for the opportunity to play football. And clearly, with the PIAA recommendation to continue with the fall season as planned, this is an aspect of the COVID-19 situation that the powers at be have considered.

And it isn’t just urban areas that are touched. Here in Central PA one coach says it also has the same affect on his players. Brandon Carson is the head coach at Line Mountain high school. “If we don’t have sports, then I worry that my players are out picking up a six pack, heading to other areas and possibly getting in trouble or just that they’ll lose  a lot of the focus and guidance that sports provides”.

“Football is a privilege and outlet for student-athletes to enjoy.” Nick Lincoln, former Imhotep Institute Charter School head coach and current QB coach at Delaware Valley University says. “But we also have to recognize that for some, football is the reason they show up to school each day.”

Sytsma, Nase and Lincoln are active members of the Philadelphia community, always seeking ways to create bridges from the football field to the classroom and the community at large. Additionally, Nase is the President of the Gregory Hennigar Memorial Fund, an organization dedicated to promoting youth advancement in education and sports, and Lincoln is a mainstay in grassroots organizations like Beyond the Field and Open Door Abuse Awareness Prevention. “We’ve been working with a bunch of kids and we’re just tired of the narrative and we’re trying to change it as far as what kids think is cool and what’s not cool” says Sytsma.

The three encourage their players to excel on the field and in the classroom. But it isn’t always easy to navigate both worlds, especially in these uncertain times. And because districts such as the Philadelphia public schools are aiming for full-time distance learning this fall, that puts the responsibility of learning largely on the students and their families, something that worries Lincoln. “People forget that in the city of Philadelphia there’s a great divide with who has home internet access.”

And when holding all classes online, this creates a problem. For example, this learning approach doesn’t take into account students with difficult home lives and a lack of technological resources.

“We have to be careful saying that at-home learning is the only solution. Some home situations kids are dealing with aren’t the best,” says Lincoln. “The ramifications hit a little different in the city when you are already dealing with poverty and lack of resources. If you don’t have all the tools you need at home to succeed at distance learning, it’s going to make getting a quality education difficult.”

And what will happen if the high school football season is canceled or moved to later in the year? How would this impact the mental health and academic standing of student-athletes?

Coach Nase believes the effects could vary across the state. “If the season is canceled, a major portion of student-athletes across the state of Pennsylvania will be fine. The pressing issue is the small percentage of students most at-risk,” he says. “Without football, some student-athletes have lost the very thing motivating them. I can tell you with 100% certainty that I have had 3 or 4 kids at Cheltenham that if it wasn’t for football, they wouldn’t have graduated. They have a high school diploma because of football.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Lincoln. “I understand if they have to cancel the season due to public health reasons, but what is not being discussed is how it will impact Philadelphia area kids. I’m worried about how we will keep young people engaged and empowered. Where is the community dynamic coming from if we are all stuck at home?”

Clearly, there are no easy answers and the debate continues about what is best for the physical and mental health of high school students and athletes throughout Pennsylvania. That said, decisions regarding high school football must be made with thought and care.

For many student-athletes, their coaches are their greatest resource academically as well. As both a teacher and a coach, Nase understands this dynamic all too well. “Many of these kids are looking for help from the people who understand them the most. And no disrespect to math or science teachers, but for many of these student-athletes, it is easiest to build a relationship with their coach. As coaches, we are legitimately concerned about students dropping out of high school if there isn’t football.

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