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Syracuse, New York – New guidelines from the State Department of Health released on Friday appear to give the green light to high school and recreational sports deemed to be at high risk for the spread of the coronavirus from February 1.
As for school competition, this covers activities such as wrestling, hockey, basketball, and competitive cheerleading. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had put those sports on hold, allowing athletes to train individually but not team practice or play.
“Yeah! Let’s go baby! I’m so excited. I’m so happy for the kids,” West Genesee women’s basketball coach Stafford Spreter said.
“I couldn’t be happier or more excited to go out and finally get to play,” said Jamesville girls basketball player De-Witt Momo LaClair. “This is the moment we have all been waiting for and I think I speak for everyone when I say we won’t let this season go to waste.
The new DOH regulation reads as follows:
“As of February 1, 2021, participants in high-risk sports and recreational activities can participate in remote individual or group training and organized non-contact or low-contact group training and, in addition, can participate in other types of games, including competitions and tournaments, only as permitted by the respective local health authorities (ie county health departments), ”the guidelines read.
“Local health authorities should consider the following factors in permitting or continuing to prohibit high-risk sports and recreational activities because, in many areas, these factors may prevent such activities:
▪ if there has been a more transmissible variant of COVID-19 identified in the area,
▪ local COVID-19 transmission rates or positivity rates, and
▪ local capacity to monitor and enforce compliance.
For all low, medium and high risk sports, travel to train or play is prohibited outside of the region or contiguous counties / regions. Interstate travel for training or gaming is strongly discouraged and, if undertaken, must strictly follow the requirements of the state travel advisory.
Travel to train or play to or from any area of New York City that has been designated as a red or orange zone may only be permitted after consultation with the respective national or local health authorities taking into account the factors mentioned above. -above. “
Onondaga County executive Ryan McMahon was among many politicians across the state urging the governor to give sports the green light.
In section III, the winter sports season was drawn from January 4 to February. 28. Given the required number of training sessions, teams would have approximately 2 to 3 weeks to play matches and matches.
“Looks like we’re going to have a season,” West Genesee hockey coach Frank Colabufo said. “I told the kids (in training) I don’t know what that means, but it’s the best news we’ve had all year.”
It is possible that given the tight turnaround time, some schools may choose to forgo winter sports altogether.
Section III executive director John Rathbun could not be reached for immediate comment.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association sent out a tweet that appeared to express surprise at the announcement.
The news also seems to be a good indicator for boys’ football, volleyball and lacrosse, all of which fall into the high risk category. Football and volleyball are now scheduled for Fall Sports Season II, which would begin in March. Boys’ lacrosse is contested in the spring.
More soon
Lindsay Kramer is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and syracuse.com. Do you have a comment or a story idea? He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].
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