New York City's public high schools have not played any sports this season. The Catholic High School Athletic Association did get a chance to play some low-risk sports this past fall (soccer and x among them), but are being frozen out of spring sports without any answers.
Executive Director Dom Vulpis and President Ray Nash of the CHSAA Diocese of Brooklyn/Queens joined Carton & Roberts on Tuesday to try to get their plight out to the masses.
"The problem is that we're not getting any answers. The city elected to not have any sports in the fall, but our schools have been in school the whole time, and we conducted the soccer and cross country seasons without any problems from COVID," Nash said.
"Certain low and moderate-risk sports were allowed to play in the fall, but high-risk sports weren't able to play," Vulpis added. "The Governor said that on Feb. 1, he would turn it over to local authorities to determine if they could play. That's when Suffolk, Nassau, and Westchester all got okays from their local Department of Health, and we did not."
Of the 62 counties in New York, the only five that haven't gotten the okay are the five boroughs, and Vulpis and Nash say there has been no explanation as to why.
"That's the most frustrating part; the only thing they say, is we're not ready for a decision at this time," Vulpis said. "And you can't talk to a human being at the City Council Health Committee, Mark Levine's office. Everything is done through email, and a receipt through email. Every time you call a phone number, it goes right to voice mail, which isn't taking any more calls. We're entitled to an emergency hearing and we've been asking to convene that committee, and they won't respond.
As Evan noted just before 5 p.m. when the discussion on the show turned to schools even being open, you can learn virtually, but it's impossible to play sports virtually, and that's time student-athletes can't get back in the future.
That's an emotional toll the CHSAA wants to avoid for their student-athletes in the 57 Catholic schools of New York City, especially those who may live outside the confines of, or on the border of, the city limits.
"We have situations where neighbors can play and our kids can't; kids who live on the border in Westchester and go to Mount St. Michael can't play, but kids who live next door and go to Archbishop Stepinac can," Nash said. "The same thing on Long Island on the border of Queens and Nassau."
Neither executive thinks this is discriminatory against Catholic schools in any way, but it is giving those students affected a hard lesson in both bureaucracy and procedure.
"What we're trying to teach out students here is that there's a process to everything, and in this case, we're showing them that we're doing this through the means that are set up," Vulpis said. "But, we're getting nothing back, and it's frustrating to teach students that will be our next generation of leaders that we're getting nothing."
So, Craig asked, what would happen if they ignored the protocols and just played?
"Many of us use NYC playgrounds and parks, so permit processes are shut down at this time, so that's an obstacle," Vulpis said. "We also did present this to our lawyers, and we're very responsible; if one student was affected by COVID, we can't live with that on our conscience."
Added Nash: "The other question I get asked every day is this: if the PSAL had teams participating right now, do you think we'd get an answer immediately? Yes, we would, but the PSAL has elected not to sponsor them. Whether or not they decide to come back, we've been ready – and instead of being rewarded because we've done a spectacular job, we're getting penalized and don't have a voice."
Listen to the entire segment with Craig & Evan and Vulpis & Nash below.
Follow WFAN's afternoon team on Twitter: @CartonRoberts, @Craigcartonlive, @EvanRobertsWFAN, @TommyLugauer, and @CMacWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
