Washington Wild Things suspend season, citing possible crackdown by state police
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The Washington Wild Things said in a press release Monday that they have officially suspended their 2020 season after being warned by the Pennsylvania State Police that the continuation of their season could lead to enforcement actions.
The announcement comes a month after the Wild Things held their opening night July 9.
“We are extremely frustrated right now,” Steven Zavacky, executive director and president of the organization, said in a statement. “We have done everything humanly possible to safely operate our facility. … We have gone above and beyond, and it was working.”
A spokesperson for the Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said via email Tuesday that for all sporting events, the total number of “participants” is required to be 250 or fewer and that the state police received complaints regarding attendance in excess of that number at Wild Things games.
State Trooper Forrest Allison, who is the Washington County Public Information Officer for the Pennsylvania State Police, said the call that took place with the Wild Things on Monday was a phone call to inform them that complaints had been filed against them.
“We reached out to them yesterday to advise them and inform them that there had been two complaints about them not following governor’s orders,” Allison said during a phone call Tuesday. “As always, as has been our approach since the beginning of this, it was to educate and inform with the goal of voluntary compliance.
“That was the intent of the phone call yesterday; they had been advised that there were complaints and we had received them from Harrisburg. Since it is our locality, it was upon us to make the phone call and advise them of the complaints.”
The governor’s spokesperson said the action was not taken with the intention of shutting the Wild Things season down and that the team is welcome to continue to play games as long as the 250-person limit is not exceeded.
Allison said the state police did not make any type of recommendation to cancel the season but did inform the Wild Things that citations could be issued in the future.
“Our typical approach to this would be to advise them that citations could be issued in the future,” Allison said. “But there was no threat, as far as the complaints that had been forwarded, there was no threat of enforcement on that. But I think it would be a normal conversation on our part, with dealing with these covid-19 responses to advise that there is potential for citations. But in no way were they advised that there would be one.”
Zavacky said in the press release that the state’s secretary of health approved an exception to allow the Wild Things to operate at 50% capacity, which would have capped attendance at 2,200, but that the team elected not to exceed 250 people.
The governor’s spokesperson said the state department of health approved the plan the Wild Things submitted to safely resume operations, but “did not provide any waiver in any way” for the team to exceed the 250-person limit.
Zavacky added that the Wild Things also minimized in-person ticket sales, monitored employee and player health, performed temperature checks on fans entering the park, required them to wear masks, offered a concession menu that consisted of canned beverages and prepackaged food and added social distancing signage throughout the park.
They also set aside a reserved section for fans 55 and older, had multiple hand sanitizing stations and said they cleaned and disinfected their facilities before and after games.
“Despite the fact that we were successfully providing families with safe, quality entertainment, I was warned this morning (Monday) that the Wild Things were out of compliance with the Governor’s edicts,” Zavacky added in his statement. “While we vehemently disagree, the message was clear. End the season or face consequences that would cripple the organization going forward.”
Since their opening day, the Wild Things and three other teams have been playing in a four-team league that included two games a day Thursday through Sunday.