Detroit Superintendent To State: Reinstate Fall Football Season

DETROIT, MI — Nikolai Vitti, the superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, is urging state officials to restore the fall football season.

Vitti on Friday sent a letter to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan High School Sports Association Executive Director Mark Uyl reconsider their position on postponing fall sports throughout Michigan amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"I write this letter on behalf of our district’s football coaches but also on behalf of countless players, coaches, and families who have reached out to me within Detroit and throughout the state about their frustration with the MHSAA’s decision," Vitti said in his letter.

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The MHSSA announced Aug. 14 that the high school football season was moving to spring due to football's higher risk for spreading the coronavirus. All other fall sports are expected to proceed as scheduled.

The football season switch was made based on consultation with state health department officials and after surveying MHSAA member high schools on their progress and preferences after the first four days of practice, MHSAA officials said at the time. Football is considered a high-risk sport for potential spread of the COVID-19 virus because of its level of player-to-player contact.

Related: Michigan High School Football Season Postponed Until Spring

The move came shortly after the organization had announced that all fall sports would proceed as scheduled. Meanwhile, the Mid-American Conference and Big Ten of NCAA college football cancelled their fall football seasons.

The timing of the MHSAA announcement was confusing, Vitti said in his letter.

"This announcement was made after you made strong public statements only a few days before stating the consensus was that players, families, and schools wanted to play throughout the state; teams, including coaches and players, were applying the right COVID safety standards; and that high school football was not comparable to college football considering the Big Ten’s decision to move the season to the spring," Vitti said. "After the surprising reversal to shift the season to the spring, vague reasons were provided, including rising concerns from Athletic Directors across the state with playing, limited audiences for games, and the lack of clear support from the Governor and the state health department.

"Factually, nothing changed from a player’s health perspective or risk analysis from strongly stating football would be played to it being postponed," the letter continues. "This has led everyone, including myself, to believe politics were played and that the MHSAA abdicated its responsibility to make athletic decisions and instead deferred to the Governor in closed door
conversations instead of supporting student-athletes, coaches, and their families."

Vitti's letter also points out that states surrounding Michigan had taken different approaches regarding high school athletics during the coronavirus. Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky have all opted to play football during the fall, and Vitti said each of the states have similar or higher coronavirus infection rates than Michigan. He also acknowledged that the states are led by a combination of Republican and Democrat governors.

Ohio ranks 15th in the U.S. in coronavirus cases, according to the World Health Organization. Pennsylvania ranks No. 12 while Kentucky is No. 33 in the nation. Michigan is ranked No. 18.

The letter ends by asking for a clearer explanation from Uyl and Whitmer as to why the football season cannot be played in the fall, when surrounding states are doing so and statistically, Vitti said, coronavirus number haven't fluctuated a great deal.

"As you know, football is more than a sport," Vitti said. "It is most often a life changing experience that develops community, leadership, purpose, and meaning. For many of our student-athletes, it is the reason to wake up in the morning and go to school, maintain better grades, and stay out of trouble.

Depression is setting in for too many of our athletes. They are suffering from the loss of structured activities. If high school football players are playing throughout the country, and in the region, so should ours."