Well, COVID wins again. No non-family members are permitted to attend public high-school basketball games in Fairfax County right now.
A recent decision was made to allow only family members, mainly parents, to be in the stands at high-school games because of high positive COVID numbers spiking all over.
So stands are pretty much empty and quiet at games. Certainly and unfortunately, there are none of those full, fun, loud and rowdy student sections in attendance watching games and dueling across the bleachers with such rival sections like was the case in previous weeks of this season.
Basically, it’s just parents sitting on their hands and clapping a bit and being nasty to the refs, but no hooting and hollering or “I believe” cheering. That also was the case late last season when just a few parents were allowed to attend games, but none at all before that. Just empty or near empty gyms.
Maybe COVID numbers will quickly fall in coming days so the rules will revert back to earlier in the season. That way, high-school basketball games, and all other indoor prep competitions in other sports, can be all-comers events again.
Sure hope so.
– Dave Facinoli
dfacinoli@sungazette.net