Thank you for this perspective. It's surprising that a person's oxygen levels wouldn't change at all with a mask. I've heard of former Olympic athletes that would prepare for competitions in cities that are at high altitude (meaning less oxygen available, which makes it harder to breathe), by practicing with a face mask to restrict oxygen and mimic a high-altitude setting. So were these Olympians and their coaches completely misguided in doing that? Granted, they were probably using something more high-tech than a basic cloth mask.
At the very least, I could see how covering someone's airways during exercise might give some kids anxiety, which in turn would affect breathing. Then there's the fact that you keep re-breathing hot air. Combine this with the 90 degree heat, and I could see how it might contribute to a kid overheating at cheer practice. There's a reason cheerleaders wear sports bras during the summer heat. The less cloth covering your body, the better chance you have of staying cool.
Are masks even effective if the cheerleaders are yanking on them with their dirty hands to adjust them every time they tumble/stunt, take water breaks, etc? What germs are they really stopping from spreading? I could see a mask obstructing a kid's vision as they tumble, or if a flyer comes down wrong onto a base, etc.
I'm all for wearing masks while grocery shopping, around the elderly, etc. I just don't know about wearing masks at cheer practice. Nobody has ever tried it before, so do any of us really know for sure that this would have no negative effect on kids who are doing grueling physical activity in non-air-conditioned places for 2 or 3 hours? I don't think everyone who voices concerns about this are "excuse making" as much as they just have different perspective/thoughts. I think about the high school football players who have died from heat stroke, and the last thing they probably needed was a hot mask on their face. Same for kids prone to asthma attacks.
I know everyone is frustrated by the rising case numbers, and I wish we could make it all go away by wearing masks to cheer practice, but it probably doesn't have much of an effect, especially if it's true that young kids aren't really the ones passing the virus around anyway.
