Erie County officials say they're investigating tips that some independent youth sports teams are traveling outside of Western New York and into other states to participate in games and tournaments. This, they say, raises COVID infection risks within local schools.
The Erie County Department of Health issued a statement Monday, reminding parents and coaches that state guidelines continue to forbid travel for sports competitions, regardless of the COVID infection "risk level" determined by state officials. This applies to both teams and individual athletes.
"Coaches and parents who choose to allow children to travel out of state for sports events are putting our school districts and community at risk for travel-based COVID-19 cases," said Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein in a prepared statement.
The health department reported it had received calls and emails from school districts, parents and even some coaches expressing concern and reporting that some local youth sports organizations may have scheduled and participated in events outside of Western New York.
"Our Department of Health is required to research these, and if they determine that there's violations of the rules, fines can be administered," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. "We don't want to do that. We do not want to shut anybody down. We don't want to administer fines. We just hope that people will follow the rules."
Poloncarz, who volunteered as a coach with the Cazenovia Park youth hockey program for about ten years, says sports organizations caught violating the state's COVID rules could face fines up to $15,000. A fine that high, he suggested, would put programs like the one he volunteered for out of business.
"I know parents want their kids to play sports, but you see the numbers going up across the country," he said. "If you're taking your child to Ohio or Pennsylvania, you're exposing them to high rates of COVID."
Pennsylvania has been added to New York's list of travel advisory states. While people may avoid a required 14-day quarantine if they travel through designated advisory states within 24 hours, sports activities are not included in that exemption.
