The parents of two high school football players have filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court, seeking an order that requires the state and county to withdraw COVID-19 restrictions on high school sports, activities, and competitions.
“Students from a less affluent school or neighborhood are missing out on the opportunity to be seen to perhaps gain a scholarship to a school that they otherwise would have been exposed to had the seasons gone forward,” said Stephen C. Grebing, an attorney and managing partner with Wingert Grebing Brubaker & Juskie in San Diego.
The restrictions placed on youth sports in California are the toughest nationwide, according to media reports, with California being one of three states in which football, baseball, soccer, and basketball are not permitted until a county achieves a less restrictive tier. San Diego’s classification is currently Tier 1, the strictest of all coronavirus bans.
“The NBA is now open and playing and they're not in a bubble,” Gebring told the Southern California Record. “They're all at home going to and from the athletic facilities daily. College football wasn't in a bubble. The students came and went to the facility. So, the use of a bubble actually has been isolated, not commonplace.”
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced on its website that it does not expect the CDPH to issue any guidance allowing for schools to return to full practice and competition until sometime in the new year, due to COVID-19, and as a result, all full practice and competition start dates are officially on hold until updated guidance is issued.
“California Interscholastic Federation is a state agency that monitors and governs high school athletics,” Gebring said in an interview. “It's controlled by the Department of Health, which is controlled by the governor. The CIF is taking direction from individual county public health officers and from the Department of Health with respect to whether or not the sports can be played.”
Gebring, who represents the parents, added that if high school sports were allowed to resume, competitions would be without spectators.
“The kids would be able to play but we would live stream the game so that spectators can watch from home,” he said. “We advocate following the same COVID protocols that the professionals and college athletes follow, such as testing before events and monitoring temperatures. The professionals and college student-athletes play with a strict protocol. Give high school sports a chance to see if we can't do it, too.”
As of Feb. 7, California had 3,335,926 confirmed coronavirus cases, resulting in 43,942 fatalities, according to the state's COVID dashboard.
"What we're intending to do is we're going to file in eight or nine other counties, especially in counties that had pro sports and college sports going on like Santa Clara or San Jose," he said.