High school sports: La Crosse Central, Logan parents and athletes show support for fall season as county sets daily record for COVID-19 cases

While a number of Coulee Region schools — including MVC members such as Onalaska, Holmen, Sparta and Tomah — have returned to play amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the wait continues for the Red Raiders and the Rangers after the schools decided two weeks ago to push the fall sports season to the spring.

Central and Logan parents gathered at Central High School on Thursday afternoon to protest that decision and show their support for playing sports this fall, though cases of the virus continue to rise in La Crosse County — including a record 32 new cases reported Thursday.

About 30 people lined Losey Boulevard with balloons that read “Let our stars shine” and signs that said “We accept the risk,” “We’re all in for fall sports” and “Honk for sports,” the final of which garnered support from multiple vehicles passing by.

Corrine Holtz, whose sons are on the Central boys cross country team, said that she doesn’t want to see her kids’ — or any of the athletes’ — hard work go to waste.

But she doesn’t have high hopes the decision will be overturned and is worried about what a fall sports season would look like in the spring — and what opponents the Red Raiders would be able to schedule — with many area schools pressing on now.

“They had their hopes up when the WIAA gave the decision-making to the schools. Then, when the decision was made to postpone the season, it just crushed their hopes,” Holtz said. “We’ve taken so much from these kids. They didn’t get to finish last year, obviously. So many kids didn’t get to go to prom, graduation. Memories are lost.”

Mason Herlitzke, a junior on Central’s football team, said that he hoped the protest would get the superintendent’s attention.

“It’s important for me to be here today because I feel like we need to be able to play sports, to have the interactions with our coaches, teammates, (have) competitions, get some normalcy back,” Herlitzke said. “... I know the people that are here, the people who signed the petition — almost 700 people — want to play in the fall.”

Central activities director Joe Beran said earlier this month that the decision to push the fall season to the spring was influenced by the La Crosse School District starting classes virtually.

“It was a decision made under the guise of safety,” Beran told the Tribune a few weeks ago. “It’s hard to have kids attending school virtually, then having them come to school for practice at the end of the day.”

The Central girls cross country team voiced its support of moving to the alternate spring season in an open letter to those who have petitioned for playing this fall.

In the letter, the team expressed its disappointment — having dedicated countless hours to their sport — but said that moving to the spring is in the best interest of the community as a whole.

“Above all, we value the health and well-being of our families, friends and coaches in the face of a pandemic,” the letter reads. “As athletes and students of the La Crosse School District, we do not advocate for the fall sports season to continue as normal unless deemed appropriate by medical experts. We stand with the La Crosse School District’s decision to postpone fall sports.”

Meanwhile, cases of the virus continue to rise in the county. According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 32 new cases were reported Thursday, a new high for the county. Total cases are up to 1,109, and 15.24% of tests reported Thursday came back positive.

The county’s seven-day positivity (10.23%) and total positivity (5.12%) also continue to rise.

While the La Crosse County Health Department no longer provides daily updates, it reported earlier this week that the county saw eight new hospitalizations from Aug. 17 to Aug. 23.