BTW, obviously that last post was meant as a joke.
My basic point is that if we could stop talking about sound bite notions (like 'it's just like the flu' or 'it's no worse than driving') and instead focus on:
1. It is a real problem
2. There are ways to make playing safer
3. We need the leagues to help make that happen
We'd have a lot more luck with a season. My original point was that the leagues should be mandating conduct to allow clubs into tournaments. I haven't seen a league (or even USAHockey) take any kind of stand. They are all being chicken, probably out of fear of lawyers. It doesn't have to be that way:
- Come out with some minimum standards around things like (a) what to do if a player is exposed (b) what to do if a player is sick.
- Come out with some minimum standards around how practices should be done (no dressing rooms, parents, etc)
- Make admission to tournaments require adhering to those minimums.
Be very explicit that these are minimums and don't guarantee safety.
Might people cheat? Yeah, it's youth hockey, some clubs will cheat. But at least there would be SOME kind of guardrails their to avoid coming up against teams like that Texas team.