MERIDEN — The City of Meriden has given Platt and Maloney the go-ahead to play club football games within city limits this fall.
There are, however, conditions attached.
In a decision issued Thursday morning, City Manager Tim Coon announced that while the city does not recommend football games be played, it recognizes football is going to happen. Consequently, the city aims to control the situation as best it can.
The approach is twofold:
■Strict health and safety requirements; ■Having the teams play in Meriden, rather than out of town, where health and safety rules might not be as rigid.In essence, the city is a parent telling its children, “I don’t want you to do this; I know you’re going to do it anyway, so do it here in the backyard where I can keep an eye on you.”
“That’s exactly the way of putting it,” Coon said. “They were going to play football, so how can we mitigate the risk? It was felt it would be most effective if we had some control over it … This will at least allow the city to establish ground rules for games that will occur.”
Tops on the list of rules: If a player, coach or anyone else involved with a team tests positive for COVID-19 and is deemed to have exposed the team, the entire squad will have to quarantine for 14 days.
Meriden club football would also be affected by what goes on across Connecticut. If the state’s COVID-19 positivity rate exceeds five percent on any given day, games will be halted. Games will also shut down if Connecticut pulls the plug on football activities statewide.
Even with the city’s approval, Meriden club football is not a done deal. Platt and Maloney still need the OK from the Meriden Board of Education. A special meeting to address the topic has been scheduled for next Tuesday, Sept. 29.
“Nothing is official yet; it’s still to be determined,” Maloney Athletic Director Bob McKee remarked Thursday. “We’re still in a wait-and-see mode.”
One of the major “wait and sees” is who else will play in the Meriden-based league. McKee is reaching out to the other 30 schools in the Central Connecticut Conference as well as to nearby schools that play in other conferences.
So far, the only out-of-town school to express solid interest is New Britain, but as of yet no firm commitment has come from that quarter.
“I don’t have anyone, but that could change,” McKee said. “I’m reaching out to more and more people. We’ll see what happens.
“I’m hopeful,” he added. “Every town, every district is doing what they think is best for them, so it’s hard to tell who’s doing what until you speak to each school, each district.”
Football programs across the state have been mobilizing for options since the CIAC, following the recommendation of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, cancelled traditional tackle football in Connecticut for the 2020 season.
The possibility of a late winter/early spring football season has been put on the CIAC table. In the meantime, schools are free to pursue other options without forfeiting any eligibility.
So far, the solutions have been regional. This week, both the Eastern Connecticut Conference and Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference approved 7-on-7 programs for their respective teams. The 7-on-7’s incorporate both the non-contact passing league competition with lineman challenges.
On Thursday night, athletic directors from the CCC were scheduled to hold a Zoom meeting to pursue the 7-on-7 option for their conference.
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September 24, 2020 at 11:13PM
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FOOTBALL: City of Meriden OK's club football, though strict conditions are attached - Meriden Record-Journal
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