OLYMPIA — New guidance released Oct. 6 by Gov. Jay Inslee’s office and the state Department of Health could provide assistance for the return of both school and non-school sports and activities.
The updates to Washington’s “Safe Start” reopening plan address not only youth and adult sports but also outdoor recreation such as running and bicycling and water recreation facilities.
“We’re doing this now because we have had ongoing conversations with businesses about how to do these activities safely,” Inslee said at an Oct. 6 press conference.
Youth and adult team sports was expanded to include both indoor and outdoor school and non-school sports, along with both outdoor and indoor adult recreational sports. Sports are divided into risk categories, with counties now categorized according to their COVID activity level measured by new cases per 100,000 people in the previous two weeks and the percentage of positive tests.
Whether or not a sport is allowed, and to what degree it is allowed depends on the risk categories for the sport and for COVID in the county in which the sport is to take place.
The new guidance led to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) to release its own updated guidance for returning to education-based sports and activities. In a news release, the WIAA noted the new guidelines “must be followed and neither schools nor community sports programs have the authority to implement more lenient policies.”
County benchmarks will be used to determine which sports or activities are recommended. The WIAA will use three tiers of participation indicating low, moderate or high risk and allow for varying levels of participation, with sports being categorized also using these levels.
High risk counties are those with 75 or more cases per 100,000 population over a 14-day period or greater than 5 % positivity rate. In these counties, team practices and/or training can resume for all sports if players are limited to groups of six in separate parts of the field/court and separated by a buffer zone. Brief, close contact such as 3-on-3 drills are permitted, and groups of six should be stable over time.
Scrimmage, intra-team competitions and league games or competition are allowed for low-risk sports, but are discouraged if the school is not conducting some in-person learning. No spectators are allowed except for one parent/guardian/caregiver for each student-participant in uniform, and they must maintain six feet of separation between each individual.
Moderate risk counties are those with 25 – 75 cases per 100,000 population over 14 days and a case positivity rate of less than 5 %. In these counties, scrimmage, intra-team competitions and league games are allowed for both low and moderate-risk sporting activities. Scrimmage, intra-team competitions allowed for high-risk sporting activities.
Low risk counties are those of 25 or fewer cases per 100,000 per 14 days and less than 5% case positivity. Scrimmages, intra-team competitions and league games allowed for low, moderate, and high-risk sporting activities, as are tournaments. Spectators are permitted as per gathering size limits of the Safe Start Plan.
Sports categories are as follows:
Low-risk – cross country, golf, sideline/no-contact cheerleading and dance, swimming and diving, tennis and track and field.
Moderate-risk – baseball, bowling, gymnastics, soccer, softball and volleyball.
High-risk – basketball, cheerleading with contact, dance with contact, football and wrestling.
The moves have led to a somewhat uneven approach to athletic activities. Locally, Greater Spokane League schools are starting some in-person training while Medical Lake is putting on a “mini-season” for sports this fall. Cheney High School student-athletes, however, have in-person training put on hold.
“We do have a virtual option to coach but cannot meet with any athletes in person,” Blackhawks cross country head coach Derek Slaughter said in an email. “The reasoning is that we don’t have students back in school, or a limited group as we do now.”
According to the state Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, Spokane County remains in Phase 2 of the reopening plan. As of Oct. 7, there are 191.8 positive cases per 100,000 over the past 14 days and a case positive rate of 11.2 % over the week ending Aug. 25, the most current date for statistics.
“I agree that when the numbers are high, we should be virtual,” Slaughter said. “It is just weird to me that each district gets to do different things in our ‘area.’”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)