

If Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference officials learned anything the first time, they will announce the adoption of a definitive “Plan B” for the winter sports season following their board meeting on Tuesday (Nov. 17).
Such decisive action would mark a contrast to the start of the fall season. In late August, the CIAC began sending a stream of on-again-off-again messages regarding the upcoming football season. At one point, the CIAC appeared to defy its own Football Committee and the state Department of Public Health, both of which suggested postponing the season until spring. Ultimately, the CIAC pulled the plug on the fall season.
Four weeks later, preliminary plans for a five-game spring season were announced.
Fast-forward to Nov. 5 when the CIAC put the brakes on the winter sports season. Originally slated to begin on Nov. 21, teams will be sidelined temporarily. High-risk sports like wrestling won’t begin until at least 2021, while medium-risk sports such as basketball, gymnastics, and ice hockey will require players face to wear coverings – if they play at all.
Once again, high school athletics are in limbo. Will they or won’t they play? Time for Plan B.
Connecticut just recorded its worst week “since the beginning of the pandemic back in March,” writes CT News Junkie colleague Susan Bigelow. “There were 9,368 new cases recorded between Nov. 4 and Nov. 11, which works out to a case prevalence of 26.22 new cases for every 10,000 residents of the state.”
Last week also saw the number of Connecticut towns under “red alert” climb to over 100, accounting for more than 80% of the state’s population. A red alert means municipalities “have the option to roll back to a more restrictive Phase Two of reopening rather than remain in Phase Three.”
Last week ended with Ansonia Public Schools transitioning to fully remote learning until Jan. 19, Waterbury schools scheduling fully remote learning from Nov. 23 to Jan. 18, and “dozens of other cities and towns” needing to “temporarily [close] schools or [shut] down entire districts due to increased coronavirus infections.”
Not exactly a promising scenario for the start of winter sports. Which points to the need for Plan B.
Rather than putting kids and coaches in limbo by telling them that plans are “fluid” – the euphemism that has become the go-to description for this year’s high school sports – the CIAC should lay out a specific action plan. Something like this:
The start of the winter sports season is postponed until Jan. 25. If metrics are not supportive at that time, the season will be cancelled. The overriding priority of this plan is the health and safety of students, coaches and families. To do otherwise in times of a worldwide pandemic is simply irresponsible.
This policy might not sit well with many players, coaches and families. Aside from shortening the winter sports season, it conflicts with the preliminary plans for spring football – to say nothing of the potential cancellation of all winter sports. So be it. Such is life in a time of crisis.
Honestly, does anyone expect the infection rates to drop in the next two months? How many schools will actually remain open in that time period? Most importantly, should schools remain open at all with COVID rates continuing to rise?
We’ve been here before. And I don’t mean seven months ago.
The 1918 flu pandemic began with a mild wave in the spring. “However, a second, highly contagious wave of influenza appeared with a vengeance in the fall of that same year. Victims died within hours or days of developing symptoms, their skin turning blue and their lungs filling with fluid that caused them to suffocate.”
In total, the 1918 flu pandemic killed 675,000 Americans over three waves in two years. The current coronavirus has killed 245,000 Americans over two waves in less than a year – and it’s still raging.
What can history teach us? For one, honest leadership makes a difference.
“Tell the truth,” writes John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. “That instruction is built into the federal pandemic preparedness plans and the plan for every state and territory.”
Secondly, and even more significantly, beating a pandemic requires cooperation and sacrifice.
“For interventions to work, people have to comply and they have to sustain that compliance; most of that depends on voluntary efforts and individual behavior,” adds Barry.
During the 1918 pandemic, cities that took proactive actions such as shutting down public venues saved lives – think St. Louis – while those that did not saw higher death rates – think Philadelphia.
“The death rate in St. Louis was less than half of the rate in Philadelphia,” write journalists Nina Strochlic and Riley D. Champine. “The deaths due to the virus were estimated to be about 358 people per 100,000 in St Louis, compared to 748 per 100,000 in Philadelphia during the first six months – the deadliest period – of the pandemic.”
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
The statistics are sobering. Global pandemics, simply, are a matter of life and death. If that fact doesn’t put high school sports in their proper perspective, nothing will. Here’s hoping the CIAC’s winter sports plan embraces that reality.
Barth Keck is an English teacher and assistant football coach who teaches courses in journalism, media literacy, and AP English Language & Composition at Haddam-Killingworth High School.
DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions, or strategies expressed by the author are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of CTNewsJunkie.com.
More COVID-19 Coverage

Connecticut To Get FEMA Funds for COVID Testing Sites
Connecticut will receive more than $2 million in federal emergency funding to pay for the operation of COVID-19 testing sites during a six-month period last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday. The roughly $2.15 million will come from FEMA’s public assistance grant program and will be used to reimburse state funds used to…
Keep reading
COVID Transmission Increases in CT
As of Friday afternoon, Connecticut’s test positivity rate was 13.71% and there were 323 residents hospitalized with the virus. On Thursday, the Department of Public Health reported that 158 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities qualified for the state’s “red alert” distinction for COVID-19, which is triggered when a community records at least 15 daily cases per…
Keep reading
Connecticut At High, Medium Risk of COVID Transmission
Connecticut’s COVID-19 test positivity rating was 10.35% on Thursday and all eight Connecticut counties were in the medium yellow or high orange categories on the CDC’s community spread map. Those community maps, created by the CDC in February, are supposed to tell people to take preventative steps such as masking and testing. Hartford, Middlesex and…
Keep reading
Advocates Make 11th Hour Pitch For Compassionate Release
Hartford, CT — Advocates seeking compassionate release from prison during public health emergencies like COVID rallied at the state Capitol hours before they saw their legislation die without action in either chamber. At the rally on Wednesday, protestors and advocates were demanding action from legislators to pass a bill that addresses COVID in prisons. The…
Keep reading
Legislating During COVID-19
The legislative session ends in three days now, that’s shorter than the amount of time someone should quarantine under CDC standards if they have COVID-19, so how are lawmakers coping? Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, started experiencing symptoms two weeks ago and tested positive for COVID-19. Luckily the session wasn’t scheduled until last Tuesday, but…
Keep reading
Study Shows Union Nursing Homes Had Lower Rates of COVID-19
A recent study published by Health Affairs found that unionized nursing homes had lower resident COVID-19 mortality rates. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing home residents have accounted for roughly one of every six COVID-19 deaths in the United States. Nursing homes have also been very dangerous places for workers, with more than…
Keep reading
Senator Murphy Tests Positive For COVID
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy announced on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19. “FYI after feeling mild symptoms overnight, I tested positive for COVID this morning. We’ve done the contact tracing and let people know. It’s a bummer, but I’m sure if I wasn’t fully vaccinated I would be feeling a lot worse. So remember…
Keep reading
COVID Cases Tick Back Up
Most of Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive orders, which were extended to April 15 by the legislature, have now expired just as Connecticut’s test positivity rate for COVID-19 is creeping back up and students at UConn are being asked to mask up again, starting today. According to the Department of Public Health, Connecticut recorded 3,939 positive…
Keep reading
House Green Lights Extension of COVID-19 Laws
The House gave final passage Wednesday to a package of four concepts that had been executive orders and are now law. Previously, the concepts were executive orders to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keep reading
Tong Tests Positive For COVID-19
Attorney General William Tong has tested positive for COVID-19. He is experiencing mild symptoms and quarantining at home.
Keep reading
Lieutenant Gov. Tests Positive For COVID-19, Days After Gov
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz tested positive for the COVID-19 virus during a routine rapid test over the weekend, her chief staff said in a Monday morning statement. Bysiewicz’s results follow Gov. Ned Lamont, who tested positive late last week. “I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Bysiewicz wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to the vaccine and booster…
Keep reading
Lamont Tests Positive for COVID-19
Gov. Ned Lamont tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday. The results from two rapid tests were positive and he’s awaiting the results of a PCR test, according to this staff. The 68-year-old governor received his second booster exactly a week ago, but has made it through the first two years of the pandemic without contracting the…
Keep reading
New Initiative Allows Same Day COVID Testing And Treatment
Hundreds of pharmacies and federally qualified community health centers across Connecticut are now offering COVID testing and treatments to patients at the same time and place. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these test-to-treat sites provide antiviral medication to hundreds of locations across the U.S, who then distribute them to patients…
Keep reading
YNHH Top Doc Boosts 2nd Boosters
If you’re eligible to get a second Covid-19 booster shot, go get it. Especially if you’re over 50 and have an underlying medical condition like diabetes that puts you at “high risk” of contracting a severe case of COVID. Read more from the New Haven Independent.
Keep reading
Federal COVID Funds To Limit Tax Relief In An Election Year
Like all states, Connecticut accepted billions of dollars from the federal government for COVID-19 relief, but that money limits how much the state can now consider cutting taxes. It’s bubbling up as a point of contention as lawmakers race to adjust the two-year state budget, which is currently experiencing a record surplus. Connecticut is expected…
Keep reading