Herndon, Va. ? High school football coach Tommy Meier spent Friday trying to organize a “home” game that will take place 100 miles away.

“Just like everybody else, our world’s been turned upside down,” said Meier, who coaches at Herndon High in suburban Washington.

Because of the sniper attacks that began Oct. 2, virtually all outdoor activities in the Washington area games, practices, homecoming events and even recess at lunchtime have been canceled, postponed or moved indoors.

The frustration has led to extreme measures to stage events as basic as a football game. Today, Herndon and most of the other high schools in Northern Virginia’s Fairfax County finally are going to play again, but they’re having to travel far and wide.

“Our athletic people began talking to their counterparts around the rest of the state,” Superintendent Daniel Domenech said. “We hope to have a full schedule of football.”

For security reasons, the schools are asking that the venues for the games not be published, but suffice it to say that Meier and his team will have to board their busses at 2 p.m. for a 7 p.m. kickoff just to play a school 10 miles away from his own.

“It’s not what you signed on for as a head football coach,” Meier said. “It’s been scheduling nightmares and disappointment and safety issues. It hasn’t been about pro formations and coverage.”

Even with a sniper on the loose, the NFL’s Washington Redskins, hockey’s Washington Capitals and basketball’s Washington Wizards have played recent games as scheduled in their secure venues, although the Redskins greatly enhanced security for fans in the parking lot when they played the New Orleans Saints last weekend.

The high schools, however, are on edge. And the debate has mounted among parents, students and teachers over whether one gunman should be allowed to shut everything down.

“You get 50-50,” Meier said. “You have parents that are very guarded and saying, ‘Hey, it’s only football. It’s not the end of the world. My son is safe.’ As a coach, I agree.”

On the other hand, Meier has heard from parents frustrated that their sons are missing out on their once-in-a-lifetime senior year of football, and feel that life should go on because the risk is statistically minimal.

The debate is often punctuated by a sobering thought: What if the sniper is never caught?

“When,” Meier asked, “do you go back to your normal life?”