Column: Coatesville cancellation marks disturbing recent trend

Last weekend started off very badly on the area scholastic football scene. The much anticipated Downingtown West at Coatesville matchup had to be canceled due to multiple online threats of violence for the game. Law enforcement deemed the threats to be credible enough that the game was cancelled and will not be made up.

High school football is a great sport and it allows people to escape the harsh realities of life for two plus hours on a Friday night to enjoy seeing young men play their hearts out for their school, their coaches and each other.

That was ruined this past Friday as a bad week for Coatesville football only got worse with the cancellation, as Red Raiders head coach Matt Oretga and two of his assistants were put on administrative leave earlier in the week due to dealings within the Red Raiders program.

If ever a community and team needed a boost it was the Coatesville community on last Friday night.

The Coatesville administration and law enforcement was right in cancelling the game as too many times in the recent past we have seen tragedy at football events throughout the region.

Just last month a young Roxborough High School player lost his life in a shooting after a scrimmage and last year, 7-year old Fanta Bility, was killed by police crossfire in a shooting episode at a Penn Wood football game. This prompted both Penn Wood and Academy Park to play only day home games this season.

The threats of violence have to be taken seriously in this day and age to protect the players, coaches and fans at high school events. It is a sad commentary on our society that these cancellations are becoming almost a weekly event around the region.

If we cannot have a safe haven on a Friday night for these young men to showcase their talents and to show the fruits their labors, what have we become as a society?

High school football is a great sport because it teaches teamwork and its shows young men that they are part of something more important than themselves, they are an integral part of a collective unit and their actions affect all the others on the playing field. The other young men on a team are counting on them to do their job for the common goal of playing winning football.

So, this week we will try again to have a full area high school football slate, one in which threats of violence do not disrupt the action. It seems like not a lot to ask but in today’s world, it is a herculean task to just get the games played without incident.

Things we previously have taken for granted are now to be treasured. Hopefully, the emphasis this week and for the rest of the season, will be on the exploits on the field and not in the police blotter.

It should not be too much to ask. Unfortunately, it is where we are at.