A middle school and high school football showcase event held by an independent organization on field space rented from the Naperville Park District last weekend broke state COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, park district officials said.
Midwest BOOM Football rented a synthetic turf football field at Commissioners Park, near 248th Street and 111th Street, for an event Aug. 8-9, said Brad Wilson, park district director of recreation and facilities. Violations of social distancing guidelines and face-covering requirements were reported to the park district the night of Aug. 8, officials said.
Midwest BOOM normally holds its showcase event — meant to give middle school and high school athletes the chance to showcase their speed, agility, power, skills and performance in competition to college coaches, scouts and recruiting media — in the winter, but wanted to get it in before more strict guidelines on football go into place Saturday, said J.R. Niklos, general manager for Midwest BOOM.
The event included about 200 middle school students Aug. 8 and about 300 high school students Aug. 9. The groups were broken into pods of 40 players, and the pods rotated through different stations over a period of four hours each day, Niklos said.
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