Nine days before the start of the Unity Junior Football League program's first practice, league commissioner Jeff Purcell announced on Facebook the 2020 season was officially canceled.
"It was in our best interest to cancel the season due to the COVID pandemic," Purcell told group members. "It was a tough decision and most teams wanted to play, but as the new restrictions came out from the IHSA earlier this past week more and more teams were changing their minds and reversing course.
"Honestly, I don't blame them after reading emails from most of them this morning after the decision last night," he added saying it was not an easy decision. "We did the right thing!!"
Purcell indicated that the league administrators are looking at the possibility of reviving the youth football program this spring.
Champaign County has recorded 1,017 positive cases out of 42.214 tests for the Coronavirus since it began tracking the infection rate in March. The five towns that make up the Unity school district has seen 26 cases so far. Currently, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is tracking seven active cases in the area.
