As the green leaves began their annual metamorphosis and a new chill pierced the evenings, fear settled over the state of Connecticut. Citizens from four different towns contracted Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), leading to three deaths. EEE is a vector borne disease that kills 3 out of every 10 infected victims. Those who survive often suffer severe brain damage. 

As EEE’s name suggests, it primarily afflicts horses. It is so rarely found in humans that no vaccine has been developed. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), responsible for trapping and testing mosquitoes, found insects carrying the dangerous disease in 20 Connecticut towns this fall. Most are clustered in the southeast corner of the state, but some disease-carrying insects were captured as close to West Hartford as South Windsor. 

In response to the public health risk, many towns cancelled or rescheduled nighttime activities, when mosquitoes are most active. High school sports games were among the affected events.

Friday night lights – long a staple of high school football – took a hit, as many games were moved to afternoons. West Hartford was not among the towns that rescheduled nighttime events across the district; however, Hall High School teams accommodated many of their opponents who would not play at night.

Hall head football coach Frank Robinson called the situation “unfortunate.” He added that the schedule changes led his team to prepare differently during the week. 

When asked if fewer fans attended games on Saturdays, Robinson replied, “No doubt about it. We didn’t even have the band last time.” Robinson went on to say that while Hall played poorly in their first Saturday game at East Hartford, they fared much better in their second, a close loss to Southington. 

Football was not the only sport impacted. The ripple effect was felt around the school. Niija Douglas, a junior at Hall and manager of the varsity girls’ soccer team, called the new schedules “extremely inconvenient.” 

Things are beginning to look up, however, as towns like New Britain have ended their ban on evening events. Hall football returned to its usual Friday night slot to play New Britain on October 11, and all of Hall can be grateful to have escaped a potential autumn tragedy.