A COVID-19 outbreak in the state of California has led to the cancellation of multiple high school football games.
The Friday night contest between Los Angeles-area Santa Paula High School and La Cañada High School was called off after nearly two dozen confirmed COVID-19 cases among players and cheerleaders.
American football ball at yard line markers on playing field – stock photo. (Tetra Images/Getty Images)
That wasn’t the only game impacted by the coronavirus either. Further north, two Bay Area high schools, Esparto and Amador, had to cancel their game after Esparto revealed it didn’t have enough healthy players to play.
Administrators at Santa Paula High School, which had 20 infected players and cheerleaders, said that the number of COVID-19 infections was rising.
Nordhoff and Agoura High Schools also canceled their game on September 1.
According to Nordhoff coach Dillon Lowen, his team had so many players down with Covid that they couldn’t even practice.
Empty football stadium with lights on. (Grant Faint/Getty Images)
“We did not have enough to put 11 healthy players on the field. … It was a rough weekend.”
Given the vaccine mandates instituted in California in 2021, there’s a high probability that most, if not all, of the athletes and cheerleaders have been vaccinated.