NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — The North Olmsted High School football team canceled upcoming practices and its opening game after a member of the varsity team tested positive for COVID-19, according to the school.
The district was notified Friday morning of the player who tested positive and immediately canceled practice, notified the Ohio Department of Health and began contract tracing protocols, the school said.
Since football is a contact sport and many players have been in direct contact with each other during practices, ODH recommended that all players and staff quarantine, according to the school.
Sophomore right tackle Joey Wengstrom was with his father Friday night picking up his sisters from the school. He said the team has been safe at practice and following state guidelines during practice. It's not clear how his teammate came in contact.
"We were all smart about it and everything," Wengstrom said. "He quarantined himself before he actually tested positive so none of us are going to get sick."
Wengstrom's father Chris said he's not concerned about the health of the team or his son.
"It’s tough—you can’t get together and play, you can’t do anything, but we’re going to do our best," he said. "Thankfully we have a great coach keeping these boys motivated. It’s like 'look we can’t practice. Do what you can at your house. Try and stay fit. In two weeks we'll be back, so don’t regress.'"
While the team quarantines, practices and team activities, as well as the opening game that was scheduled for Aug. 28, will be canceled.
The team continues to check up on their teammate to make sure he knows he's not alone, according to Wengstrom.
"It’s not his fault or anything," he said.
The North Olmsted football team will be allowed to resume practices and team activities on Sept. 1 for individuals who are symptom free, the school said.
“We recognize the disappointment of these cancellations, but we will continue to follow the instructions provided by the Ohio Department of Health in order to keep our students safe and healthy. We would like to remind our families that it is important to self-report symptoms and/or test results in an effort to keep everyone in our school community safe,” the school told parents.
North Olmsted City Schools said it is monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates when they become available.
