Let Them Play Water Polo

[TheWaterKind]

Governor Newsom's team is deliberating California's disastrous sports policy this month, seeking a "compromise." The Governor sees the Let Them Play movement as "driven by football...folks who want to get a football season in."

Our young water polo players need immediate advocacy. While the ongoing debate is unpredictable, a bad outcome would be football and soccer moving into red, with water polo remaining in orange. If nothing changes, California is unlikely to host the JOs, and the 2021-2022 seasons are threatened.

Daily case rates are uncorrelated to in-game sports risks, but they are easily measurable. Athlete mental and physical health is not.

www.LetThemPlayWaterPolo.com is a group organized by young athletes and their parents. Its mission is to directly advocate for water polo while supporting the broad youth sports initiative. Tony Azevedo, who teaches and mentors youth athletes every day, is senior advisor.

An athlete petition (http://chng.it/BnPknkb9QJ) to First Partner Newsom has nearly 1,000 signatures through limited distribution.

We encourage those who agree with the initiative to visit the site, forward the petition, and follow @LetThemPlayH2O on Twitter and #LetThemPlayWaterPolo on Facebook. We hope the club system will broadcast the message.

The evidence is in. COVID is rarely, if ever, transmitted in the pool. The risks are operational and social, which can be controlled. Our young athletes have lacked advocates for almost a year. It's time.

Let Them Play Water Polo!

[jhwp]

Signed and shared, thank you!

Gov Newsom finally came clean that the youth sports ban isn't really about youth sports, it's about not undercutting the teachers unions' position that school is just too dangerous. Disgusting. Read between the lines folks: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/09/ ... athletics/

At least it's clear we are just pawns in this battle, so hopefully more coaches and programs disregard these guidelines and forge ahead. As far as I'm aware no one has been cited or sued for practicing or traveling, and dozens of teams are doing it with varying degrees of openness. So let's just get on with it, there's safety in numbers.

[LandLubber]

Signed and shared!!!

[badboy]

Signed and shared, thank you!

Gov Newsom finally came clean that the youth sports ban isn't really about youth sports, it's about not undercutting the teachers unions' position that school is just too dangerous. Disgusting. Read between the lines folks: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/09/ ... athletics/

At least it's clear we are just pawns in this battle, so hopefully more coaches and programs disregard these guidelines and forge ahead. As far as I'm aware no one has been cited or sued for practicing or traveling, and dozens of teams are doing it with varying degrees of openness. So let's just get on with it, there's safety in numbers.

I'm not sure I read it the same way, but the reality is that he's got to handle all of these different issues and they are, in fact, related.

Regardless, it seems a step in the right direction.

And yeah, I was just thinking about this the other day - why not just start playing and see what happens. The obvious risk to a club or USA water polo in general is that someone gets COVID and dies and then bam, lawsuits up the ass because "you told me it was safe and my kid got COVID and died (or gave to a parent etc.). I'm pretty confident my kids' club won't play until it has the all clear from everyone who needs to give the all clear and I don't really blame them.

[jhwp]

Signed and shared, thank you!

Gov Newsom finally came clean that the youth sports ban isn't really about youth sports, it's about not undercutting the teachers unions' position that school is just too dangerous. Disgusting. Read between the lines folks: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/09/ ... athletics/

At least it's clear we are just pawns in this battle, so hopefully more coaches and programs disregard these guidelines and forge ahead. As far as I'm aware no one has been cited or sued for practicing or traveling, and dozens of teams are doing it with varying degrees of openness. So let's just get on with it, there's safety in numbers.

I'm not sure I read it the same way, but the reality is that he's got to handle all of these different issues and they are, in fact, related.

Regardless, it seems a step in the right direction.

And yeah, I was just thinking about this the other day - why not just start playing and see what happens. The obvious risk to a club or USA water polo in general is that someone gets COVID and dies and then bam, lawsuits up the ass because "you told me it was safe and my kid got COVID and died (or gave to a parent etc.). I'm pretty confident my kids' club won't play until it has the all clear from everyone who needs to give the all clear and I don't really blame them.

Yeah I agree that's the scenario that keeps club owners from moving ahead. But I don't think that fear is rational. I mean has any entity anywhere been sued for "allowing" a customer to get covid? The lawsuit risks club owners face inherent in running a polo club seem magnitudes greater to me (injuries, abuse).

[badboy]

Signed and shared, thank you!

Gov Newsom finally came clean that the youth sports ban isn't really about youth sports, it's about not undercutting the teachers unions' position that school is just too dangerous. Disgusting. Read between the lines folks: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/09/ ... athletics/

At least it's clear we are just pawns in this battle, so hopefully more coaches and programs disregard these guidelines and forge ahead. As far as I'm aware no one has been cited or sued for practicing or traveling, and dozens of teams are doing it with varying degrees of openness. So let's just get on with it, there's safety in numbers.

I'm not sure I read it the same way, but the reality is that he's got to handle all of these different issues and they are, in fact, related.

Regardless, it seems a step in the right direction.

And yeah, I was just thinking about this the other day - why not just start playing and see what happens. The obvious risk to a club or USA water polo in general is that someone gets COVID and dies and then bam, lawsuits up the ass because "you told me it was safe and my kid got COVID and died (or gave to a parent etc.). I'm pretty confident my kids' club won't play until it has the all clear from everyone who needs to give the all clear and I don't really blame them.

Yeah I agree that's the scenario that keeps club owners from moving ahead. But I don't think that fear is rational. I mean has any entity anywhere been sued for "allowing" a customer to get covid? The lawsuit risks club owners face inherent in running a polo club seem magnitudes greater to me (injuries, abuse).

Not sure, but those entities are all probably operating in compliance with the state's rules. If you open up polo play in defiance of the state, the risk is certainly larger.

[wplover]

So did families/players contract covid after the Utah Eggbeater and TX 68 Sports tournaments or not?

It's been stated here, that absolutely, yes they did. Yet in the article Mercury News article (https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/17/ ... into-pool/) I quote "Indoor youth water polo tournaments in Utah and Texas this winter with 5,000 athletes reported no transmissions".

Then: "He <Azevedo> said the water polo community has followed the source of the positive tests, including two in his academy. Azevedo said none showed transmission in the pool.

He said he had a positive case at a December event in Dallas. Azevedo said it turned out the player had attended a big family Christmas gathering where the transmission occurred."

[McKlintock]

So did families/players contract covid after the Utah Eggbeater and TX 68 Sports tournaments or not?

It's been stated here, that absolutely, yes they did. Yet in the article Mercury News article (https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/17/ ... into-pool/) I quote "Indoor youth water polo tournaments in Utah and Texas this winter with 5,000 athletes reported no transmissions".

Then: "He <Azevedo> said the water polo community has followed the source of the positive tests, including two in his academy. Azevedo said none showed transmission in the pool.

He said he had a positive case at a December event in Dallas. Azevedo said it turned out the player had attended a big family Christmas gathering where the transmission occurred."

We went to Utah to play. I haven't heard about any cases for our team or others. The chlorine in the pool and in the air at the facility was a bit overwhelming for players and spectators. Nearly everyone in the stands wore masks (the one exception I can think of is the play-by-play guys doing the live stream). If anyone caught covid, I would speculate that it was transmitted away from the pool. I was surprised to see many people without masks all over town, including shops, hotels and restaurants. And I am not just talking about patrons. When we checked into the hotel, the clerk was wearing his mask around his neck. When we picked up a pizza, the cashier didn't have a mask at all. We didn't do any large team social events like dinner, but I know other teams did. This is why I continue to believe shutting down youth sports in CA is actually increasing the transmission risk (travel!). While water polo didn't start traveling until more recently, lots of other sports (soccer, baseball, gymnastics, etc, etc, etc) have been traveling to play since the summer. With most other states allowing youth sports, it is silly to think people aren't going to travel out of state to let their kids play.

[badboy]

Apparently input from Sacramento is due tomorrow...

[oldtimer]

With regards to 'just play, and let God sort them out", the issue is liability and insurance. As some have stated, if anyone attending a practice or game gets extremely sick, or God forbid, dies, the operating entities and individuals organizing the event become liable for lawsuits. If the State has said you cannot play, whether inside or outside the state, there is a chance that the liability insurance provided by USAWP and possibly for board members/coaches of clubs, becomes invalid. The insurance is designed to cover athletes, coaches and owners for typical injuries and damages caused by following rules that any 'prudent person' would follow.

Those who flaunt these rules run the risk of being sued. They might consider that risk to be small, or they might consider that risk to be 'worth it'. But, just as those who choose not to wear masks or not to socially distance also consider their risk to be small, it's just like the old saying "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the nose". In other words, it's not unlike all other aspects of life: Assess your tolerance for risk, and what effect it would have on you if the 'worst case' occurs. Then make your decision.

I have a definition I use for the word 'idiot'. It's someone that lets their emotions (ego, feelings, whatever) determine their decision making, rather than their intellect. We all make idiotic decisions on occasion, and sometimes that is a mistake. What you hope is that you don't make a mistake you cannot recover from. Those who make idiocy a lifestyle increase their probability of making one of those mistakes.

Bottom line: If you have the financial/political means to withstand the repercussions of your behavior (let's use sexual abuse as an example, since it may have some relevance here), then you may believe you can just ignore the rules. Otherwise, you have no business complaining if it doesn't work out for you, and you probably shouldn't be working in a position where you can put others in danger.

That said, I personally have come to the conclusion that water polo is safer than land-based sports for all the reasons given. Now that we know much more about how the virus is transmitted, who is at risk, and what impact our environment has on the lifespan of the virus it would behoove all of us to pressure our political leaders to revisit the issue with regards to our sport, and perhaps encourage studies to test/prove that position.

In the meantime, the latest news seems to confirm what I had suspected - with money and political will, it may be possible to effectively vaccinate enough people by mid-summer that we can go 'back to normal'. That might take some pressure off of the politicians, but since we know that there *will* be another epidemic/pandemic at some point in the not-so-distant future, we still need to keep our politicians focused on these kinds of things. The lack of preparedness for this virus, and the recent winter storms, should prove to people that we need government functioning *well* for all of us to remain safe and secure. Anarchy and 'me firstism' clearly only works during good times...

[badboy]

Yay, at least for NorCal lol

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/19/ ... fkCs-GGvn8

[desertbeachkid]

Huge news for water polo!!!! Thanks for sharing. Just showed this story to my daughter and she burst into tears. Hopefully the county doesn't screw it up.

[wplover]

We went to Utah to play. I haven't heard about any cases for our team or others. The chlorine in the pool and in the air at the facility was a bit overwhelming for players and spectators. Nearly everyone in the stands wore masks (the one exception I can think of is the play-by-play guys doing the live stream). If anyone caught covid, I would speculate that it was transmitted away from the pool. I was surprised to see many people without masks all over town, including shops, hotels and restaurants. And I am not just talking about patrons. When we checked into the hotel, the clerk was wearing his mask around his neck. When we picked up a pizza, the cashier didn't have a mask at all. We didn't do any large team social events like dinner, but I know other teams did. This is why I continue to believe shutting down youth sports in CA is actually increasing the transmission risk (travel!). While water polo didn't start traveling until more recently, lots of other sports (soccer, baseball, gymnastics, etc, etc, etc) have been traveling to play since the summer. With most other states allowing youth sports, it is silly to think people aren't going to travel out of state to let their kids play.

Thanks @McKlintock - I appreciate the first-hand experience. I'm kind of shocked they even allowed spectators! You are probably right about travel, etc and I was hoping that was the case. So happy to see the kids can start playing again. A year ago Kap7 in Irvine was the last big tournament these kids had in California. They really need this!

Although I will say, not everyone has the means to travel out of state to play. And those with less means or family members who are compromised aren't able to do that.

[badboy]

We went to Utah to play. I haven't heard about any cases for our team or others. The chlorine in the pool and in the air at the facility was a bit overwhelming for players and spectators. Nearly everyone in the stands wore masks (the one exception I can think of is the play-by-play guys doing the live stream). If anyone caught covid, I would speculate that it was transmitted away from the pool. I was surprised to see many people without masks all over town, including shops, hotels and restaurants. And I am not just talking about patrons. When we checked into the hotel, the clerk was wearing his mask around his neck. When we picked up a pizza, the cashier didn't have a mask at all. We didn't do any large team social events like dinner, but I know other teams did. This is why I continue to believe shutting down youth sports in CA is actually increasing the transmission risk (travel!). While water polo didn't start traveling until more recently, lots of other sports (soccer, baseball, gymnastics, etc, etc, etc) have been traveling to play since the summer. With most other states allowing youth sports, it is silly to think people aren't going to travel out of state to let their kids play.

Thanks @McKlintock - I appreciate the first-hand experience. I'm kind of shocked they even allowed spectators! You are probably right about travel, etc and I was hoping that was the case. So happy to see the kids can start playing again. A year ago Kap7 in Irvine was the last big tournament these kids had in California. They really need this!

Although I will say, not everyone has the means to travel out of state to play. And those with less means or family members who are compromised aren't able to do that.

That was actually a really good tournament too.

[jeff]

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highscho ... -component