By Chance Chamberlain
Sherwood, Midway and Harrisonville have quarantined athletes and coaches due to possible COVID-19 contact exposure, resulting in the cancellation of multiple sporting events.
Sherwood Superintendent Scott Ritter said, “We had two students in the school test positive for COVID-19 and due to contact exposure, multiple members of the football team were required to quarantine. The quarantined players included multiple varsity starters which shortened our roster. This resulted in the cancellation of our game against Warsaw and our game on Friday (tomorrow) against Buffalo.”
Ritter said the Marksmen should be back in action Oct. 2 and nothing has changed procedurally for the school.
“The Buffalo cancellation should be the last one and we plan to play again against Crystal City on Oct. 2 if we are able to. It all kind of depends on the MSHSAA guidelines that are in place,” he said. “Right now, we have made no changes to school procedures for players or events. We are continuing our routine cleaning of classrooms and buses and we will continue to do everything that we can to keep our kids safe.”
No other sports at Sherwood have been affected by COVID at this time.
The Midway Vikings have cancelled two games and rescheduled another because of a positive test results from a member of the football team. Athletic Director Jesse Richardson said the positive test happened outside of their control and that they are lucky to have rescheduled a game.
“This was a crazy deal because we have been really strict about the protocols that our conference put in place for us this season. We have worked closely with the Cass County Health Department and this happened outside of our control at the school,” he said. “We cancelled the Warsaw and Windsor games because of the positive member on the team, but we are lucky that Crest Ridge worked with us to reschedule Friday’s game for Monday the 28th. We will then be back next Friday at home for senior night against Lone Jack.”
Midway R-1 required quarantine for all students who contacted the positive student. Richardson said other sports were affected because of this.
“We had to cancel and reschedule games for the junior varsity and junior high football teams as well as the junior high volleyball team because many members of the teams were in classes with the student who tested positive.
“We have been quarantined for almost two weeks and we will return to school in the next couple of days. All of the kids that have tested since quarantine began have come back negative, as far as I am aware,” he said.
Richardson added, “We will be taking our precautionary measures a step further by separating the opposing team’s crowd from our own and we will continue to follow the guidelines from the health department.”
Harrisonville Girls’ Volleyball saw three game cancellations due to an athlete testing positive for COVID. Activities Director Brent Maxwell said plans have been made to make up missed games and to ensure greater safety measures at events.
“All three of the games that were cancelled have been adjusted due to COVID. We only had one student athlete test positive to my knowledge and everyone else affected was placed on quarantine as recommended by the Cass County Health Department as a precautionary measure.
“If anyone tests positive and we are notified by the health department, we have procedures in place for contact tracing to help prevent the spread to other students and staff,” he said.
Maxwell added, “We are limiting the number of spectators at most events, especially those held indoors. We are also strongly encouraging social distancing and wearing masks. We haven’t had any other student athletes test positive and we aim to keep our kids healthy by enforcing these protocols.”
