College Sports:

It goes without saying that after a full year off from any athletic competition, Pasadena City College coaches, programs and athletes are champing at the bit to return to a sense of normalcy, and that includes getting back on the field.

With a steady rise of new COVID-19 cases (the Delta variant), many in the SGV area sporting world are somewhat concerned that life may be altered yet again.

Last week, the PCC administration made its faculty and coaches aware that getting vaccinated was a requirement to step foot on campus once school resumes on August 23rd.

PCC coaches were also given the task of having to tell their athletes that it’s either get your shot or sorry, you won’t be allowed on campus or at practices or games.

The Lancers football program has a scrimmage scheduled for two weeks from this coming Saturday at West LA, and then PCC opens the 2021 regular season two weeks later at Cerritos College.

It appears that PCC is blazing a trail amongst local JC’s in its stiff requirement of not only mandating that everyone get vaccinated, but proving it as well.

Thus far, it seems there are as many unanswered questions as answered, but we will continue to update the situation as events unfold.

Some have suggested that HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) would protect teachers, coaches, students and athletes from having to answer health questions, but according to a story in the Washington Post, that is not the case.

The link to that story is included at the bottom of this one.

A few questions this writer has includes 1) why did they wait until there was just over two weeks before school starts to announce the implementation of this policy? 2) Are there any circumstances that would exempt a student or athlete from having to get vaccinated, such as those who have gotten and survived COVID 19, as well as declining the shot based on religious views?  3) If PCC students and athletes are ultimately forced to get the vaccine shot before they can do anything at or for PCC, will the school allow athletes from other schools on campus for sporting events that aren’t vaccinated? And 4) How will it be effectively enforced? Will there be an airport or concert like presence or setting every day where student-athletes walk through security to give proof of their vaccination?

The purpose of this piece is not to take one side or the other, it’s simply meant to put all the information we currently have out there and allow the reader to decide for themselves.

If there is one thing that we can all agree upon, it’s that sports plays a huge role in the maturation process for student-athletes.

The skills that are learned and honed by being part of a team not only benefit them as athletes, but just as much as young men and women.

Quotable

PCC Sports Information Director, Robert Lewis: “COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way things are in education today and how athletics operates at so many different levels from high school to colleges. It’s been a large part of the news cycle every day going back to March, 2020. It kept PCC from playing competition for an entire school year. That had never happened before in our school’s sports history. I think the bottom line is we want PCC athletics to return to some sense of normalcy and that means actually having games or contests. We look forward to our sports teams playing a 2021-2022 season and the chance for our student-athletes to again compete as Lancers.”

PCC put out the following FAQ: Vaccination – Reopening Information & Updates – Pasadena City College

Washington Post story link: Is it against HIPAA to ask about covid vaccinations? – The Washington Post