The National Collegiate Wrestling Association needs to be called out for its callous disregard of public health.
While the NCAA, NBA, MLB, and NHL have suspended activities, the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) held its tournament this past weekend in Allen, Texas.
Dallas had closed all recreation centers, libraries, and cultural centers, but the competition went on as scheduled. Outside the facility, five UT Southwestern faculty were in quarantine after exposure to Coronavirus, and the mayor of Dallas banned gatherings of 500 or more people. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a “state of disaster.”
Courtesy: Mansfield News-Journal
“I think a lot of this is driven by fear,” NCWA executive director, Jim Giunta, said last Friday when asked why he didn’t cancel the event. “We’re going to do everything in our power to create an environment that’s more than safe for our athletes. But after we do everything we can do, we’re going to operate on faith rather than fear.”
The event, which was not sanctioned by the NCAA, hosted 84 colleges and over 600 wrestlers. Precautions included posting signs about ‘best practices’ (to prevent virus spread), and wrestlers were disqualified if they scored a temperature higher than 100.4.
When asked how he felt about proceeding with business as usual, UT Arlington’s coach Collin Stoner said, “I think when we start to cancel these events, the actual athlete and the hard work kind of fades away from them.” He viewed the virus “on the back burner” and was proud that the tournament had not been canceled.
Liberty University coach, Jesse Castro, put it this way: “From a philosophical perspective, do I think [reaction to the Coronavirus] is overhyped? Yes, I do.… You know the talking points. We’ve dealt with this kind of stuff before….We’re vigilant and use common sense, but I refuse to live in fear. I’m not gonna do that.”
Castro went on to say that he believes, as does Jerry Falwell, Jr., that the virus was being used by Democrats to impeach the president. Castro had 19 wrestlers in the tournament.
There’s another narrative, of course.
Every college and university needs to put student welfare first. But in this case, administrators and coaches did not. Instead, they showed flagrant disregard for their wrestlers’ well-being.
All we can hope at this stage is that none of the participants, media representatives, officials, or fans in the stands become carriers or victims of COVID-19.
