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MASKED: Concerns arise amid new football mandate, fans push for larger spectator counts

Richmond's Bryan Till, sporting a face covering, talks to defensive backs during Monday's first official day of practice.
Kyle Pillar — Sports Editor.

ROCKINGHAM — Hot topics of conversation in the weeks leading up to the first high school football games in North Carolina on Feb. 26 have been face masks and stadium seating capacities.

While neither topic is new to high school athletics since the return of workouts in August or official play in November, concerns are arising that necessary changes aren’t being made statewide.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association made an amendment to its modified sports manual late last week requiring football players, coaches and all team personnel to wear a mask or face covering “at all times,” which includes on the field of play. 

This stems from Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order No. 181, Section 2.5, which states face coverings are mandated when student-athletes are playing “outdoors and within six (6) feet of someone who does not reside in that exercising person’s household.”

Aside from boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, football is the only other NCHSAA sanctioned sport that requires players to wear a properly fitted helmet and mouthguard in order to participate. Players will wear the masks while also wearing a mouthpiece.

Richmond Senior High School head football coach Bryan Till explained that up until the recent change, players didn’t have to wear a mask as long as their mouthpiece was in and their helmet was on. The concern now is how the layers of protective gear could potentially impact players’ breathing.

“It could have a huge impact on players because they have to get used to the physicality of playing football while wearing a mask,” Till said.

The Raiders, who have been having outdoor workouts for two weeks, will held their first official practice on Monday. Till said the program has been proactive the last several months in having players workout and train while wearing masks, so the acclimation process shouldn’t be too steep.

“I think the guys are excited to be out on the field right now,” he said. “We’ve spent so many months wearing masks in workouts that the guys have become used to it. We’re flying around and having a lot of fun.”

The NCHSAA’s COVID-19 guidelines and protocols are crafted by following what Gov. Cooper has signed. There are several different legal options for football masks per the NCHSAA, including one that attaches to the inside of the facemask.

Till said the Raiders have already ordered balaclava-styled masks that players can wear as a hood under their helmet and allow for easy access to pull down the face covering when needed. 

Should a player need to leave the playing field for “respiratory recovery,” the NCHSAA states that the player “must sit out at least one play.” This is where Till finds the new rule most concerning.

“It’s ridiculous to have a kid have to miss a play so he can pull his mask down and breathe,” Till said. “I really hope our officials will have good in-game judgement on how to handle this moving forward and not just be strictly letter of the law.  

“I think there is some common sense that can take place and let a kid pull his mask down for a few seconds in between plays without having to move to the bench. In between plays, opponents aren’t right on top of each other so the risk is not there.”  

Additionally, any time that a player’s helmet and mouthpiece is not being worn, a mask must be in place. Players are not allowed to wear gaiters, but coaches and other team personnel can.

Till said while the Raiders will follow the state’s mask mandate, and all other guidelines, he also said it appears to be more about aesthetics.

“There will be kids tackling and running over each other, so it seems hypocritical to wear a mask,” Till said. “The mask seems to be more about appearance instead of disease prevention.

“There has been data shown in studies from states like Wisconsin that there’s a very low transmission rate (when playing football).” 

He added that “it’s important to keep the perspective” that if a team is quarantined, such as a program with 100 players like football, that it doesn’t mean there’s a coronavirus outbreak. It could be one positive case, but teams that quarantine are following proper procedures.

Aerial photo of Raider Stadium showing the numbered seats in the home section (bottom) and away section (top). Contributed by Jim Arp, Raider football.

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Another issue that all high school athletic programs are facing is limited seating capacities under Gov. Cooper’s orders. Currently, only 25 spectators are allowed at indoor events like basketball, and only 100 fans are allowed to attend outdoor games for sports like soccer and football.

The NCHSAA’s live document says that spectators must “remain seated” during games, and that “players, coaches, workers, entertainers and support staff do not count toward the capacity limits… Cheerleaders and bands are considered entertainers for this purpose.”

According to Rob Ransom, Richmond’s athletic director, Raider Stadium’s seating capacity is 6,000 seats. There are 3,400 numbered seats on the home side below the pressbox, and 2,600 seats on the away side. 

This number doesn’t account for fans who stand on the surrounding hills or along the interior fence near the track.

If only 100 fans can be let in, Raider Stadium will be filled at 1.67% capacity this winter.

Football gate sales are Richmond’s largest haul across any of its programs, and with no concessions being sold, that means the program will make roughly $700 in each of its three home games.

Till said there’s still time to see that number raised, and pointed to college football stadiums eventually increasing the number of spectators allowed in open-air venues. He said that basing the number of spectators on a certain percentage of the seating capacity would allow more people in, even if it was 10% capacity.

The possibility of using the fire marshal’s capacity, which Till estimated was around 10,000 fans and said is what colleges like UNC did, “would be a win for high school athletics.”

“There’s a lack of understanding why college football was able to do it, and it’s nonsensical for those guys to do it and not us,” Till said. “We can prepare for it if we have the time to do so. 

“It’s not an NCHSAA or county thing, it’s from the Governor. We have no other options on (allowing more fans) right now.”

Brad Denson, Richmond’s offensive coordinator, has been a big advocate to try and spark a change to Gov. Cooper’s 100-spectator limit. 

When Denson played quarterback and led the Raiders to two state titles in 1997 and 1998, he played in front of the largest recorded crowd in Raider Stadium history, which surpassed 14,400 fans against West Charlotte in the third round of the 1997 state playoffs.

But with the Raiders’ first football game just under three weeks away, Denson said he hopes to see more fans allowed in for games across the entire sports scene.

“It’s about every sport, not just football. We all want people there, and when volleyball started (in November) we were just happy to have sports back,” Denson said. “By this point, we were expecting the restrictions to ease and change. But nothing has changed.”

He noted that under the current restrictions, the Raiders and the rest of the state’s football teams could have played a semi-regular fall season. Denson expressed the belief that if fans, coaches and players were patient, more could be done this spring.

“When the Governor started to put kids back in school, I think a lot of people hoped we’d get some things back like more fans in the stands,” Denson said. “Stadiums don’t need people side-by-side, but they should be filled to a certain percentage of their capacity.”

Denson was one of many members of the Richmond football community to share an online petition by Change.org asking for signatures to have Gov. Cooper ease his restrictions on spectator attendance.

At the time of publication, there were 21,184 signatures with a goal of 25,000.

“I hope the petition gets other communities to come out and support this,” Denson said. “More fans will generate more revenue for schools that are hurting.

“I’m pushing for all athletes to play in front of somebody because that’s what really matters. The kids deserve it.”

 



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Kyle Pillar is a 22-time North Carolina Press Association award-winning sports editor with The Richmond Observer. Follow the sports department on X @ROSports_ for the best in-depth coverage of Richmond County sports.