By Kyle Brennan, Citizen’s News
Oct. 1 was the magical date — the long-awaited, relentlessly hoped, and often-doubted start of competitive play for the high school fall sports season. By all accounts at Naugatuck and Woodland, the first high school games since March 9 went off without a hitch.
That included cooperation by fans, who were subject to the limitations agreed upon by most Naugatuck Valley League schools.
NVL schools agreed in late September to allow only two fans per student-athlete at home games played outdoors. No fans will be allowed from visiting teams or for any indoor contests — with the exception, perhaps, of senior night contests in volleyball and girls swimming.
Fans unable to attend games can tune into online streams of most sports that are being provided by the schools.
Local athletic directors said they haven’t encountered much resistance to the new attendance policy, which aims to help keep the fall season alive for as long as possible.
“Parents were appreciative that we’re trying to do something,” Naugatuck athletic director Brian Mariano said. “Anyone we had to tell that we couldn’t allow them in (Oct. 1) was very understanding. There were no issues with masks and people stayed away from each other, so it was great. Volleyball was fine; nobody showed up or tried to get in. I think a bunch of parents got together at a restaurant and watched (the live stream) together.”
Attendance at Naugatuck is a bit easier to control due to the enclosed nature of Veterans Field, but Woodland’s soccer field isn’t fenced in and sits on a partially open part of campus.
“For the first couple of home games, we’ve hired some security staff to walk the grounds and make sure people are following safety protocols,” Woodland athletic director Chris Decker said. “It’s going pretty well. If things don’t go so well, we may have to readjust. (Oct. 1) went well, so hopefully it keeps up.”
Decker said Woodland parents were also mostly understanding of the new policies, although Decker noted that “there was a lot of, “Can I do this? Can I do that?’” as people brainstormed ways around the rules.
Mariano knows that many people are disappointed that they can’t attend games as normal, but he thinks the fact that this policy is in place to help maximize the number of games played makes the pill a little less bitter to swallow.
“People aren’t happy, but they’re understanding,” Mariano said.
The lack of fan attendance also means a lack of ticket sales for the Hawks and the Greyhounds. The two fan passes issued to each student-athlete came free of charge, and there won’t be anything to replace the substantial revenue — especially from the canceled football games — brought in by typical ticket sales.
That will likely affect the athletic departments’ budgets — which are partially funded by ticket sales — as the year goes on, especially if the also-lucrative basketball season is played without fans.
“It’s going to make a major hit for us,” Decker said. “A lot of stuff is included (in the regional budget) for specific sports, such as equipment, but there is probably $10,000 worth of miscellaneous items that we buy every year from ticket money. Right now we’re OK, but I can see us being in rough shape.”
Decker categorized those purchases as a “hodgepodge of stuff that you don’t even think about,” such as tickets, championship banners and trophies, recognition banquets, equipment replacements, technological upgrades, apparel and more.
The loss of football, in particular, will hurt both schools. Mariano said it’s a loss of a “significant amount of money” at Naugatuck, while Decker noted a “good football game” can bring in $2,000.
In Naugatuck, Mariano estimated that between 20% and 25% of the Greyhounds’ athletic budget is funded by ticket sales during the fall and winter.
“We’re trying to be creative this year by using our booster clubs more and only buying the essentials,” Mariano said.
