Hand, foot and mouth disease forces Pope John to forfeit Saturday’s football game
Sparta. An outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in Pope John XXIII Regional High School’s football program led to the cancellation of all football games and an open house, as the school takes precautions to contain the spread.
Sparta /
| 17 Oct 2025 | 09:41
Pope John XXIII Regional High School varsity football team. (
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Pope John XXIII Regional High School football program and cheerleaders. (
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An outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease within Sparta’s Pope John XXIII Regional High School football program has caused the school to forfeit Saturday’s game at St. Joseph Regional High School.
“Things like this need to be taken seriously and we weren’t about to go down to St. Joe’s knowing how contagious hand, foot and mouth disease can be,” said Pope John Director of Athletics Brian McAleer. “This started Wednesday in the freshman program and as of right now I can tell you it is contained within the football program and maybe one cheerleader.”
To combat the spread, McAleer said the school has fumigated locker rooms, wiped down all the lockers, disinfected “everything” as well as put out notifications telling anyone who is sick to stay home in an effort to protect the entire school community.
The freshman and junior varsity games also were canceled, as was an open house scheduled for Sunday. Other sports programs continue as no one has displayed symptoms of the disease, McAleer said.