Dangerous air quality conditions are impacting Wayne County youth sports
HONESDALE — Youth sports organizations all over the region are being directly impacted by wildfires currently raging in Canada.
According to multiple baseball, softball and travel team officials, dozens of games have been postponed or canceled in Wayne and Pike counties due to concerns about smoke and haze.
It’s a decision that local medical personnel are applauding.
“The air quality right now is definitely unhealthy,” Dr. Sean McVeigh, Chief of Staff at Wayne Memorial Hospital, told TCI Sports on Wednesday. “In my professional opinion, it’s a very good idea to limit outdoor activities for children.”
Current projections provided by airnow.gov, a website Dr. McVeigh consults year-round for pollen counts and ozone layer updates, suggests that conditions should improve in the next 48 hours.
Until then, though, it’s expected that local youth athletic leagues will continue to proceed with an abundance of caution.
Keeping kids safe
Charlie Rollison has been president of the Honesdale Little Baseball Association for more than two decades now.
Over the course of those years, he’s dealt with just about every conceivable situation when it comes to running a youth sports league. Not surprisingly, he was quick to act when the current air quality dilemma reared its ugly head.
Rollison moved swiftly to postpone all HLBA games and practices Tuesday and Wednesday, while also keeping his options open for Thursday and Friday. As of now, all the games that had to be scrapped have been re-scheduled.
“We’re disappointed that we have to postpone some games,” Charlie said. “But, the health and well-being of our kids is always the most important thing.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by officials with the Western Wayne Little League.
Ziggy Henshaw is the Head Coach of the Henshaw Trucking team that competes in the Waymart Minors Division. His players range in age from 7-11 years-old. They love playing the game and making new friends.
Unfortunately, kids like Hunter Henshaw, Garrett Miszler and Mark Dilts (pictured top) don’t fully comprehend why their most recent games had to be canceled. It’s a situation Ziggy, along with fellow coaches Joe Vinton and Joe Henshaw, did their best to explain.
“Our kids are very bummed,” Ziggy said. “I think they just see it as smoke. They don’t understand the health risk. For example, Hunter was a premature baby, so we have to be cautious with him until his lungs are fully developed.”
Ally Morcom, whose daughter plays on a Minors Division softball team, agrees whole-heartedly with the league-wide decision to postpone games.
“Parents from our league messaged board members with concerns about air quality,” she said. “Many of those parents on their own accord chose not to allow their children to play.”
As a result, league officials postponed all games, including Major Division playoffs in the Pioneer League, until at least Friday.
Proceeding with caution
Steve Pinto, founder of the NEPA Sports Factory in White Mills, was also quick to act when the air quality deteriorated.
A longtime baseball and softball mentor who also oversees the Pro Prospects travel team organization, Pinto immediately ordered all diamond activities moved inside as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Thankfully we have the ability and the facilities to bring the kids indoors,” Steve said. “Yesterday, we brought six team practices inside and today we have five more that we’re bringing in.”
Matthew Corso is president of the Wayne Highlands Little League, an organization of youth baseball and softball teams that uses Factory Field in White Mills as its base of operations.
When contacted by TCI Sports early Wednesday afternoon, Corso confirmed that all WHLL games and practices had been postponed. While new dates haven’t been set yet, he anticipates each of these will be made up by the end of the regular season.
Finally, the Northeast Pride travel team baseball organization has announced that its Summer Scout Day has been postponed.
According to organizer Joe Curreri, the event had originally been scheduled for Wednesday at Volpe Field on the University of Scranton campus.
“It’s a huge disappointment, but it’s definitely something we had to do,” Joe said. “We had 115 players signed up, more than 30 college scouts and three MLB agents committed to coming. It’s a tough break, but we’ll make the best of it.”
Northeast Pride’s Summer Scout Day has been tentatively re-scheduled for Friday, July 14. Further details will be released in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Wayne County PA youth sports games postponed due to air quality
