While there are many activities to do on the weekend, many people choose to go out and watch the local high school football team play on their home field. But as of late, the opportunity to play other teams seems unlikely.

On Oct. 7, Lincoln High School announced that they would be forfeiting their matchup against Millard South that upcoming Friday. Their reasoning was for health and safety reasons in finishing the season. Another incident happened nine days later with Omaha Buena Vista forfeiting their matchup against Lincoln Southwest with the same reasoning as Lincoln High. At this point of the season for High School Football, districts and playoffs are approaching.

Teams are working toward winning a state championship, but that seems prohibited by teams forfeiting against great teams. I mean sure you don’t want to get blown out by 50, but it hurts the player development that the high school is trying to create. High school players want to get the recognition needed to go to a division one school and make their family proud. With teams forfeiting, it sets a bad tone for the team chemistry. Forfeiting could lead to players transferring to different schools, to play for a better team and get the spotlight that they need.

Now I get that health and safety is a main priority for student athletes, but there is a classic mentality that coaches use when they talk to their team: next man up. If your starter is out due to injury, have one of your backups, or a player from junior varsity or the freshman team, in a spot that they would never think they would play.

This mentality starts a good foundation for players and teams that want to carry an identity. That doesn’t happen, because these administrators want to allow other schools to bring players from different schools. According to Dana Becker, attributed to the Omaha World Herald, Millard South faced a punishment earlier the season because of “an assistant volunteer coach having two players live with him without legal guardianship.” Ultimately, it was an NSAA violation as part of their rulebook, the two players were out of the state.

This brings forward the question of whether NSAA should have new regulations as more schools start to forfeit. It is detrimental to the players, families and the school itself, for teams to not go out there, and play to make a difference.