Coach pushing vaccine on players eli.cranor@gmail.com August 8, 2021 Eli Cranor is a former professional quarterback and coach turned award-winning author. Please use the “Contact” page at elicranor.com to send in questions for “Athletic Support.”

Dear Athletic Support: My son’s senior football season is right around the corner. He’s so excited, but also a little scared. He’s scared because of the new surge in COVID cases happening in our state. I must say, I’m a little worried too. I’m worried because I’ve seen how hard he’s worked for this year. He plays offensive line and has always been a backup until now. As much as I want this season to happen in a regular fashion, I’m also a little concerned about the way his coach has been talking about all of it lately. This coach has taken it upon himself to urge the boys to go get their vaccine, stating that this is the best chance the team has at having a “regular” season. I’m not saying I’m for or against the vaccine, I’m just saying I don’t think it’s this coach’s place to be talking about something like that. This is a choice each family should make. As much as I want my son to enjoy his senior season, I’m not willing to sit back and let this coach try and tell us what to do. What do you think? Should coaches be pushing the vaccine?

— Don’t Push Me

Dear Don't Push: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m not a medical professional, but I do have an opinion when it comes to coaches talking about the vaccine.

It’s a coach’s job to do what’s best for his team. He is working “in loco parentis,” which is Latin legal jargon for, “in place of the parent.” What this means is when minor children are entrusted by parents to a school, the parents delegate to the school certain responsibilities for their children, and the school has certain liabilities. In other words, when a coach is with his players, he should be doing what is best for them at all times.

And getting your kid vaccinated is what’s best for him. It’s what’s best for the team. What’s best for our country. It’s a big deal, and there’s more on the line here than just another lost football season. We’re losing people to this virus, every single day.

And the reason we’re losing so many people is because they’re still not vaccinated.

I said I wasn’t a medical professional, but I am married to one. My wife is a pediatric nurse practioner. She’s read more studies on this stuff than I can count, and the numbers do not lie.

Unvaccinated people are the reason we’re seeing this latest surge in cases, and people are dying as a result.

So where does your son’s coach come in? Why is it okay for him to tell the boys what to do when it comes to what seems like such a personal decision?

Because not getting the vaccine is dangerous, and when a coach is acting in loco parentis, it’s his job to warn his players of any and all of life’s hazards.

Let me put it to you this way. Would you be up in arms if this coach were preaching to his boys about the inherent risks of drinking and driving?

No, I’m guessing you wouldn’t.

Drunk driving killed a little over 10,000 people last year. Compare that to the 345,000 people who died from COVID in 2020 and the disparity is staggering.

The numbers don’t lie, and thankfully, neither does your son’s coach. Maybe if more coaches and people in positions of power around our country decided to take the same stance, we would finally come together and beat COVID once and for all.


Previous columns:

• Youth sports like a cult
• Coach’s pregame speech too crazy for kids
• Championship rings and multiple sweatbands — too much?
• Working out over the Dead Weeks?
• Summer School Blues
• Practices running late causing problems
• Softball games going past midnight
• Are athletes getting better with age?
• Are team sports a vital part of childhood?
• Summer schedule way too serious
• What if I can’t afford private speed camps?
• Quarterback lacks speed
• Should pro athletes talk politics?
• How to take a hit
• Wrestling in college, what’s the point?
• Removal of mask requirement could cost us games
• Overachieving daughter stinks at sports
• Why are we playing all the small schools?
• Freshmen don’t make varsity, usually
• Kids have changed, haven’t they?
• Esports and disc golf bigger than football?
• Little pitchers have big ears
• Pregame music offensive
• Fouls in girls basketball
• Red Shirting
• Coach makes political post
• 7th grade girls basketball woes
• Multi-million-dollar buyouts don’t make sense
• Private schools have the upper hand
• Best of 2020

Athletic Support Columns 2020


Outside of athletics, kids’ brains are also at risk. Who knows what sort of impact virtual learning will have on their cognition and critical thinking skills. In this regard, I offer one simple tool — a good book! And luckily, I know just the book for kids struggling with the shift to virtual learning:

BOOKS MAKE BRAINZ TASTE BAD! Okay, you caught me… I’m the author of this book. It was published last week and awarded a #1 New Release ranking on Amazon. BMBTB deals directly with the same topic covered in this column, except in a much more lighthearted, kid-friendly way (zombie teachers and brain-munching screens!) If you end up purchasing this book for your children or grandchildren, I only have one final suggestion — ask them to read it while standing up! Eli Cranor's new book Books Make Brainz Taste Bad has just been released. ZOMBIES HATE BOOKS! Especially the zombie teachers at Haven Middle School. That's why they're using VR headsets to fry kids' brainz. Luckily, Dash Storey knows how to save his classmates from the zombie teachers—BOOKS! They make brainz taste bad! "Eli Cranor has an almost unbeatable advantage. He can remember how it felt to think like a twelve-year-old and he can see the very same events like the adult he is. Don't try to resist this book!" - Jack Butler, Pulitzer-Prize nominated author