With hopes of encouraging the school board to allow fall sports to go ahead on an already altered schedule, parents and students gathered outside the Parkland School District administration building Tuesday night to voice their opinions. A group of approximately 60 people attended the peaceful rally with many carrying signs with phrases such as ‘Let Them Play’ and “Save Our Season.’

The event was organized by Latrisha Oswald, the parent of two Parkland student-athletes, both of whom play sports that take place in the fall. Oswald pointed out that the teams have been practicing without any incidents of the coronavirus occurring and have strictly adhered to the guidelines that were set in place to avoid the spread of the virus.

“Many of the kids have been out there since June with some sort of drills or workouts and they really have done an excellent job with wearing masks and social distancing,” said Oswald. “There haven’t been any issues and as a parent I believe it’s safe for them to participate in fall sports.”

Senior volleyball player Leah Brunnabend echoed Oswald’s feelings about how practices have been conducted with high safety guidelines and she’s happy that nobody has contracted the virus through the weeks of workouts and drills that the team has gone through.

“I don’t sense any concern just because of how seriously we’re taking the precautions,” said Brunnabend. “I get why they pushed the season back, but I just hope we get to play.”

The Lehigh Valley has a rate of infection well under the CDC guideline of five percent and hospitalizations and deaths are way down from where they were earlier in the pandemic. With those numbers and the fact that Parkland students have done well with the guidelines, parents and students are hopeful that the fall sports season will be able to get underway starting next month.

For their part, the students are trying to put the coronavirus issue aside and simply prepare for the upcoming season.

“I don’t feel like we have any worries,” said senior football player John Siggins. “This year is very important to me in finding the right college and going through the recruiting process. It’s very stressful to me because you can’t show anything right now. Plus, I’ve been playing with most of these kids since forever, so not having my senior season with them would be terrible.”

The pandemic caused the cancelation of the spring season, which impacted Mason Bergstein as a junior volleyball player. Bergstein was at the rally to show support for the fall sports athletes, knowing that what happens with the board’s decision whether to play could impact winter sports where he plays basketball at Parkland.

“I know first-hand what they’re going through and it’s kind of tough, actually.” said Bergstein. “I didn’t have a season and I don’t want them to feel the same pain and of course, I’m hoping that I can have my senior seasons in both basketball and volleyball.”

Throughout the summer, student-athletes have been charged with having to fill out daily medical assessment forms as they self-monitored for any signs of the coronavirus. According to Oswald, those forms have been strictly adhered to and the kids have stressed to each other how important the guidelines for preventing the virus are to follow.

At their regular Tuesday night meeting, the school board heard comments from several parents and students regarding the fall sports season. The comments overwhelmingly supported playing the fall sports season as it is now scheduled. The board had previously approved playing the season but a recommendation by Governor Wolf to delay sports until next year changed the landscape somewhat. Last week, the PIAA voted to go ahead with fall sports but provided an option for schools to opt out if they had concerns about playing.

Based on the response of the school board, it appears that they are standing by their previous decision to allow sports to continue. As we’ve seen with the coronavirus, things can change quickly but the early practices and drills that have been conducted provide some confidence that the fall season may be able to be played, albeit on an abbreviated schedule.