Every parent has sent their child to school with an illness of some sort – contagious or not. It’s just reality. We’ve all done the same for sports practices.

For the most part, because we’ve all done it, most parents don’t really care if it happens as long as the illnesses aren’t severe or overly contagious.  

At least until now.

Now more than ever, it’s important that if your child has an “iffy” illness of any sort – cough, sore throat, slight headache – you keep them home, regardless of their ability to perform or stay on task.

You might not think it’s serious enough to miss a practice, but the parents of the other players will not want your child sneezing or coughing – maybe just from allergies, but who knows for sure – anywhere near their own kids.

That’s just the way it is in the world we live in now. Call it the new normal if you want, or maybe more accurately – reality.

Hopefully, coaches are reinforcing this concept. The same coach who last year would tell their players, “You need to be at practice unless you have a fever or are throwing up,” should now be stressing that if they don’t feel 100% it’s OK to miss a night of training.

One player missing a night of practice is better than that same player coming to practice with a cough or some other symptom, later testing positive for Covid-19, and subsequently shutting the team down for at least 14 days. 

Trust me, I get it. Like yours, my kids have been holed up at home, and now that they’re finally “released” the last thing they want to do is miss a practice because they just don’t feel “right.”

But feeling “right” is more important than ever before. In fact, showing up to a practice or game with an illness of any type given the current state of the country is just downright wrong.

This is a case where if a player is sick, being a great teammate means not being there at all.

Check out our list of what to expect/do before, during and after practices to help ensure that your family is contributing in a positive way to the health and safety of the entire team ... and their families.

Stay safe and healthy.

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years with perspectives as a parent, coach and board member. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Coaching Kids Made Easier,” is available on Amazon. Send comments or future blog topics you'd like to see to JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow him @YouthSportsBuzz on Twitter.