By Harry Kaseff
Sports Head
The National Federation of State High School Sports (NFHS) has recently announced its plans for how high school sports will return. They broke their plan down into three phases. At the end of phase III, high school sports could be unrecognizable from what they were before Covid-19 hit.
Phase I includes all players and coaches being screened (temperature taken daily) before any workout. It also includes no usage of locker rooms, no gatherings of more than 10 people, students going straight home after practices, and no shared athletic equipment. This would turn high school sports upside down. Huge modifications will have to be made to accommodate the full return of youth sports.
Phase II allows no more than 10 people inside, but up to 50 people outside. Minimal use of lockers would now be allowed, keeping in mind social distancing guidelines. Low-risk sports such as track and field, swimming, golf, cheerleading, and cross country would be allowed to resume full practices and competitions. Practices would still be modified for moderate-risk sports such as basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, soccer, water polo, field hockey, tennis, and girls lacrosse. Girls lacrosse is included in Phase II but boys lacrosse is in Phase III because boys lacrosse is a much more physical sport (between players). Phase II will be when people will be getting back to their normal everyday lives. People wanting to watch live high school football will have to wait the longest as football is included in Phase III.
This phase will also include no more daily screenings, gatherings of up to 50 people will now be allowed inside and outside, and social distancing will be reduced to 3-6 feet. Those moderate-risk sports will now be able to resume full practices and competitions. However, only modified practices will be held for high-risk sports such as football, wrestling, and boys lacrosse. Once this phase is complete, high school sports should be much closer to how they were before Covid-19.
Another interesting thing to consider is if spectators will be allowed to attend competitions. The NFHS has assigned tiers to who can come to games. Tier 1 will include all essential personnel including athletes, coaches, officials, event staff, medical staff, and security. Tier 2 will include all media. Lastly, Tier 3 will encompass all non-essential personnel including fans, parents, and vendors. No matter when high school sports return, there is no doubt that fans will be in attendance once they are allowed to come back.
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