SYCC Board undecided on basketball program’s viability due to COVID-19

Monica Zalaznik
September 21, 2020

BUCKHANNON – The Stockert Youth & Community Center board last week opted to delay a decision regarding the start of their basketball league this year.

Debora Brockleman, SYCC director, said she had received several calls recently asking if basketball would still happen, so she asked the board what they thought during their monthly meeting on Monday, Sept. 14.

“One big concern that I’m having is with our basketball program with everything that’s going on right now,” Brockleman said. “We don’t know for sure what is going to happen with indoor sports, but right now with the outdoor sports, kids are only allowed to have two people there to watch them play, and they have to be from the same household.”

Brockelman said she isn’t sure what will happen with high school basketball or if SYCC will be able to use the high school gym this season.

“I also don’t know what’s going to happen with basketball on the high school level, so we really don’t know how we can start our basketball program, not knowing if we even have a place to play,” Brockleman said.

City Recorder Randy Sanders said he would be surprised if a basketball season could be completed this year.

“I would be shocked if you could do it,” Sanders said. “There would have to be a lot of cleaning being done in between games and in between each team coming in and out.”

Brockleman said they typically have a lot of people in one gym and their usual system probably wouldn’t work.

“We have three games at time and that traffic flow was like 275 people coming in and back out, and then more coming back in and back out for like six hours or so every Saturday,” Brockleman said. “If we are allowed to use the high school this year, we’re not going to be able to have that many people there.”

SYCC director Debora Brockleman at a recent SYCC Board meeting.

The board discussed the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Upshur County and the West Virginia Department of Education’s School Re-entry Metrics and Protocols System that determines whether a county can have in person instruction or not. Mayor Robbie Skinner pointed out that Upshur County had 15 active cases at the time, and it was impossible to know what it may look like later.

“We get calls every day asking if we are going to do basketball and we don’t know,” Brockleman said. “We usually have signups start in October, we have practices starting in November, and the first games would be January.”

The SYCC has a Facebook page where they regularly update what events will be happening and when.