Like it or not, Simi Valley is a sports town.

Some cities have the beach, others the arts. But in Simi, we’ve got ball fields, lots of them, all full of youths and their families chasing the thrill of athletic achievement.

Maybe it’s the exploits of those like brothers Jered and Jeff Weaver, two Simi natives now enjoying successful careers in Major League Baseball (both of whom’s teams are playing tonight, coincidentally), that inspire so many of our young people to pursue sports stardom.

But more likely it’s the fact that Simi is a traditional middle class town where the best form of entertainment for someone under the age of 16 still involves a football, basketball, baseball, soccer ball, hockey stick, etc. For many children, sports are as much a part of growing up as school or church are—and they’re a great avenue to help pay for college, too.

So when word quickly spread late last week that a young Simi Valley football player had collapsed on the practice field and declared brain dead hours later, the reaction of many was utter shock. How could this happen? Why did this happen? Was sports somehow to blame?

The death of 10-year-old David Sumner and the subsequent news that the cause was a head injury sustained at practice has hit sports-loving Simi Valley hard.

Not only those associated with the Vikings were strongly affected, but members of other local athletic leagues as well. Teams that were used to competing with one another for field time are now rallying around one another for support.

To the thousands of parents and kids involved in youth sports in Simi, losing David was like losing a family member. That’s the kind of camaraderie that exists among the sports community, and it’s often overlooked by critics who paint “soccer moms” and “softball dads” as obsessed, overbearing lunatics who only care about what’s best for their kids.

It’s not known yet whether something could have been done to prevent David’s death, but from what we’ve heard so far, it sounds like a tragic, and rare, accident.

Let’s not use the young boy’s death as an indictment of contact sports. Instead, let’s do everything we can to support his family and show that in Simi Valley, our love for everything athletic reaches far beyond our playing fields.