Here is how I see it.
When the rules were adopted concerning situations where forfeitures may be necessary, it was probably thought that less than a half dozen games a year may may be affected. That is six out of approximately 4000 games a year. In nobodies wildest dreams did anyone contemplate what has occurred. We have averaged around 20 games a week that have been postponed, rescheduled, or cancelled. Instead of six games, now your are looking at more than 200 this year.
I personally believe that the forfeiture rules were put into place as a form of punishment for not making a good faith effort to play a game.
Does it seem fair to punish a school by making them take a forfeiture loss because of COVID?
Doesn’t it make a lot more sense to allow two schools to simply reach an agreement to call a game a no contest? No harm, no foul.
Most, if not all of these schools that declared a COVID pause, were doing exactly as they had been instructed. Test, trace, and promptly react to COVID or even possible COVID. Is it fair to punish the kids even further, after they have already lost the opportunity to play one or more games by hanging a loss on them?
Are some schools manipulating the “flexibility” the League is permitting to their advantage. Sure they are. But to me, this is a small price to pay so that hundreds of kids are not punished because of no fault of their own.
Is the latitude the VHSL has extended a perfect answer? Of course not. But remember this as you pass judgement. We, all of us, are living in unprecedented times. All of the answers are not cut and dry. Nobody is so clairvoyant that they could anticipate what problems would occur and have the answers. Therefore, we are all learning on the fly. Certainly stumbling occasionally. The VHSL is no different. In spite of what is often said, the people at the VHSL office put the students first and foremost in their decision making. And this situation is an example of just that.
