In late June, Julia Fishkin got a text message from her son’s Little League commissioner announcing the baseball league’s early July tentative kick off.
Inwood-Manhattan Little League’s season, which was set to begin in April, had already been postponed several times following Governor Andrew Cuomo’s state of emergency order and gathering restrictions after the coronavirus hit the city in early March. The commissioner for the seniors division, which consists of players aged 15 to 16, Raun Ruffin, was taking the community’s pulse. He wanted to know how many parents felt comfortable with their children playing once Cuomo announced the city’s Phase 4 reopening, which included low-risk outdoor activities.
Fishkin, 58, was conflicted. Her 14-year-old son had longed to play since the winter, and now, after months of isolation, he missed the game as much as his friends.
“I was trying to evaluate: How do we make this decision?” Fishkin said. “I really don’t want him to get Covid. I really don’t, but my son lives for baseball and his sleep cycle has changed, he’s been staying up with friends, and playing video games and he’s a very social boy.”
Like many other parents, Fishkin grappled with the difficult question of whether to allow her son to play an outdoor sport this summer — mainly hoping to bring some sense of normalcy back into his life — or to safeguard him from the virus by preventing him from playing altogether.
Since the season has started, there have been heated disagreements, multiple complaints, including one to a U.S. Congressman's office, and even threats, in a Manhattan neighborhood with one of the borough's higher rates of positive coronavirus cases.
At one point, a frustrated Fishkin snapped a photo of a coach who she said refused to wear a mask. She said he then yelled at her, "I’m going to sue you!"
Ultimately, the problems that have surfaced in the neighborhood little league echoed the broader nationwide challenges of enforcing rules like mask wearing and the divisive responses that have ensued.
Inwood-Manhattan Little League playing at Inwood Park.
This was not how Fishkin imagined things would go. Back in June, when she initially asked about the league’s new safety measures, Ruffin said players would be required to wear masks in the dugouts, which would now only allow a limited number of players and would be equipped with bottles of hand sanitizer. Kids, she said she was told, would not be required to wear masks in the field as long as they stood at least six feet apart.
After consulting with other parents in the league and weighing her concerns, as well as her son’s desire to play, Fishkin agreed to let him play.
With more than 90 percent of the parents on board, according to Ruffin, the league’s board members hosted an hour-and a-half video conference where they addressed parents’ questions and announced new safety guidelines in anticipation of the first game.
“Masks were the biggest topic for sure,” said Rasheed Young, 49, a parent and a coach who attended the meeting. “Parents wanted to make sure the coaches had their mask on all the time.”
The league later outlined the new rules in a document titled “Covid Guidelines” that was shared with parents and reviewed by Gothamist. It asked all coaches and umpires to wear a mask at all times; batters, base runners and the catcher must also wear a mask.
Additionally, the document stated, players cannot shake hands, give each other high fives nor celebrate in a group. All attendees must maintain a distance of six feet at all times; no more than six players are allowed in the dugout (this was later changed to four); equipment must not be shared; and attendance should be limited to no more than two people per family. Failure to meet these guidelines, the document said, would result in a suspension or expulsion.
League officials later told Gothamist they do not currently have an action plan if a coach or player were to test positive with the virus, which fortunately has not happened a month into the league. But if that worst case scenario were to happen, Ruffin said, he would ask the person to quarantine and recommend all four teams in the seniors division to get tested for the virus. So far, two children who recently traveled out of state were asked to quarantine for two weeks before returning to the field, league officials and parents confirmed.
Other youth sports leagues are also contending with guidelines. The American Youth Soccer Organization has recommended that coaches and parents wear masks, while advising players to socially distance during games. Masks are not required for referees during play.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance for youth sports states, "Teach and reinforce the use of masks... Masks should be worn by coaches, youth sports staff, officials, parents, and spectators as much as possible."
As soon as Cuomo announced New York City was ready to enter Phase 4 of reopening, the last phase that included low-risk outdoor activities and professional sports without fans scheduled for July 20th, the league set the date for the first game of the season — that same Monday.
That’s when Jim Jack, 52, and his wife had a conversation with their son in which they agreed to let him play as long as the season went as planned and as he behaved according to their expectations: he must always wear a mask and keep six feet away from everyone. His son agreed, but Jack, who is also a coach, said that he knew the league’s new COVID-19 guidelines would be difficult to enforce.
The problems at Inwood Hill Park’s baseball field, where the teams called Apple Bank, Dichter Pharmacy, Carrot Top, and Senator Adriano Espaillat play three times a week, arose from day one. Espaillat, the former state Senator turned Congressman, is a diehard baseball fan and a sponsor of one of the teams.
When Fishkin arrived at the field for the first practice game on July 14th, her son was the only kid wearing a mask and players were not socially distancing in one of the dugouts, she said. Fishkin said she later sent a photo of the dugout to Ruffin who promised to address it.
The following game, masks and social distancing enforcement had improved, Fishkin said. But it did not last too long. The situation escalated at the next game when, according to Fishkin, again no one from her son’s team was wearing a mask or socially distancing, including one the coaches. For the most part, all of the other teams’ coaches she had seen so far wore masks, but this particular coach refused to wear one, she said.
That is when she decided to take the photo upon which she said the coach threatened to sue her.
The reported lack of mask enforcement and social distancing led to a series of text messages and emails with Ruffin and other league officials, a formal complaint presented against the coach, in-person conversations with league officials, and a complaint made to Congressman Espaillat, who sponsors her son’s team.
Congressman Espaillat said in an email that his office donated hundreds of masks to the league earlier this year.
“I have been informed by the League that while they have confidence in the safety procedures they developed prior to the beginning of their season, they will review their current protocols and procedures and implement any necessary updates and will continue their strict guidance to ensure the safety of all children, families and coaches who are involved,” Espaillat said.
After Fishkin’s complaints, the league told her they would bring personal protective equipment to the team. But when Fishkin went to the following game, masks still dangled from her son’s coaches' necks and kids were gathering around them, she said.
Fishkin said that one of them shouted: “I’m not going to wear a mask for nobody. I’m not going to suffocate for nobody. I'm going to sue. It’s harassment.”
At one point, she offered to buy cloth masks for the team if the coaches preferred them.
Ruffin, who has been with the league for almost 20 years, said the biggest challenge has been to enforce new Covid-19 guidelines in a game that’s inherently designed for players to hover and for managers, as well as umpires, to approach players. He believes the league is doing a good job.
“So far so good, we are doing fairly well,” Ruffin said. “We’re doing everything that we can to have this be a fun and safe atmosphere.”
He said 99 percent of the coaches he has talked to have agreed to wear a mask, except for one coach “who has to be reminded to wear one,” he said.
Ruffin said he is okay with coaches who briefly remove their masks to communicate with players, as long as they are six feet away. He understands the challenges of communicating with a mask on, he added.
“We’re not overly upset if you take the mask down and then you put it back up after that,” Ruffin said.
In one email following Fishkin’s formal complaint, Juan Moreiras, the league’s secretary and information officer, replied: “I’m trying, but it’s hard to get these people to wear masks in the heat outdoors. Would you be agreeable to coaches not wearing masks if they social distance at all times?”
She replied to him: “That’s the point of working with adults, Juan — coaches have to set an example not violate permits. I have 4 friends in the neighborhood with bad covid experience, including a kid and a 32 year old who barely made it. I don’t want it for anybody..”
Masks haven’t been the only challenging guideline to enforce, other parents and league officials told Gothamist. They cited lack of social distancing as well as crowded dugouts and bleachers.
This was not the case during the league’s first two weeks, said Young, the parent and coach who attended the video conference before the season began. Back then, everybody was making a conscious effort to follow the new guidelines, he said.
Like other New Yorkers, the league may be guilty of letting its guard down.
“Two weeks in, I think people got comfortable,” Young said. “We are still growing through this whole pandemic, so if we need reminders it’s because it’s not a natural habit to do these things.”
Like Young, Jack, the other parent and coach, is constantly reminding the kids to stay six feet apart and to wear a mask. Sometimes, even his own son fails to wear one, Jack acknowledged.
All three parents would hate to see the season cancelled because of an outbreak triggered by lax enforcement of the COVID-19 guidelines. Jack wants the league to enforce stronger health and safety expectations, including consequences for those who fail to meet them. So far, he believes, implementation has been inconsistent.
Ruffin promised to revise guidelines if the league fails to enforce the ones currently in place, however if a parent is worried about his child's safety, he said, the safest option is not to play.
“You have an option to remove your kid if you think he’s in danger,” Ruffin said. “I respect that. We understand.”
Young, who has lost seven friends to the virus, believes the commissioner has made an effort to be present at more games to set the example and that umpires are stopping more games when guidelines are not being followed. This weekend, the commissioner stopped a game after a coach with Espaillat’s team refused to wear a mask, one parent and Ruffin confirmed .
Now, he believes the league needs to remain consistent.
For Fishkin, who echoed both of the other parents’ wishes moving forward, in order to keep playing, the community has to come together to keep enforcing the guidelines that are working and to rethink those that are not. She would like to see social distance markers, parents acting as social distance monitors and coaches wearing masks at all times.
“Can we come together as the community and do it?” Fishkin said.
