SIDNEY — Lehman Catholic has postponed two athletic events — including a football game at Waynesfield-Goshen — due to COVID-19 concerns.
Lehman president Josh Ater said in a video posted on the school’s Facebook page the events were postponed due to coronavirus cases at the school and on opposing teams.
Lehman was scheduled to travel to Waynesfield-Goshen on Friday. The game will be rescheduled for late October according to athletic director and head football coach Dick Roll.
Roll said he’s hopeful the school’s football team will return to the field for its next scheduled game, which is against Lima Perry on Oct. 3 at Sidney Memorial Stadium. The game is scheduled to be Lehman’s homecoming contest.
“This was not done because we were asked by the health department to do it, but because we wanted to protect homecoming,” Ater said. “… We’re being proactive, we’re being safe on this. We’re doing so to protect our homecoming game and also wanting to be good sportsmen to our competitor teams, who have some students that are out for a variety of reasons.”
A girls soccer match between Lehman and Anna that was scheduled for Thursday has been postponed to Oct. 17. It’s a high-profile matchup; the two teams have finished first or second in Western Ohio Soccer League standings every season since 2016.
Several area schools have canceled or postponed athletic events due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Russia canceled or postponed all its schools’ athletic events between Aug. 31 and Sept. 14 due to a coronavirus outbreak; it resumed all activities last week.
Fairlawn canceled all volleyball matches from Sept. 15 through Sept. 22; the team is scheduled to return to the court on Saturday in a nonconference match at Newton.
Jackson Center has one individual involved in its volleyball program who recently tested positive for COVID-19, and Urbana postponed a nonconference match that was scheduled for Monday as a result. The match has been rescheduled for Oct. 5. The Tigers returned to the court on Tuesday and beat Botkins 3-0 in a Shelby County Athletic League match.
Lehman Catholic’s junior high school football team canceled two games earlier this month due to multiple players being quarantined as a result of contact tracing.
