Outrage rang out across the state when Colorado initially decided to postpone a fall football season until the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Voices were loud enough to get Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado High School Activities Association to reverse course and offer a fall season that started in October and will conclude Dec. 3-5 with state championship games to be played at Colorado State University-Pueblo.
COVID-19 cases have spiked across the national and throughout Colorado during the last month, but the state has remained committed to finishing the high school football season and reaffirmed that state title games will be played next week. However, CHSAA and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment announced Wednesday night that championship games will be contested at the CSU-Pueblo Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl Stadium without fans in the stands.
“Our administrators always advocate for the full high school experience and although disappointing, we support these tough decisions,” CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green said in a news release. “Season A football for 218 schools that competed this fall and approval of the culminating championships in these unprecedented and tumultuous times, would not have been possible without the support of CDPHE, state and county officials.”
The decision has sparked a new outrage around the state, with many fans and players calling for CHSAA to find a new venue for state championship games.
Of greatest concern is the inability of families of senior players to watch their children play in their final career high school games.
However, that has already been the case for much of the state. Jefferson County has not allowed fans to games since Week 3 of the regular season. Durango High School did not allow spectators for the regular-season finale or last week’s quarterfinals.
CDPHE said Pueblo County has been hit especially hard in new COVID-19 cases, and it estimated one in 29 people in Pueblo and surrounding areas are contagious with the coronavirus. Just like La Plata County, Pueblo County is under level red restrictions.
While spectators will not be allowed into the stadium, cheerleaders, band members and broadcast staff will be permitted inside the ThunderBowl.
“We appreciate the ongoing partnership with the Colorado High School Activities Association as we navigate these tough times,” Jill Hunsaker Ryan, Executive Director of the CDPHE, said in a news release. “Early in the season, our organizations both agreed that additional safety measures like these might need to be taken, and now unfortunately we are there. These decisions aren’t made lightly, but they’re necessary.”
Additional measures may be announced later in the week. CHSAA has said it will not move the title games to alternate sites because of variances approved by CDPHE.
Durango will play at Holy Family in Broomfield in the Class 3A semifinals at noon Saturday. If Durango reaches the championship game, it would play at 2 p.m. Dec. 5 against the winner of No. 1 Roosevelt and No. 4 Pueblo South.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
