Onondaga County spells out rules for return to winter sports: Here’s what you need to know - syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. — Onondaga County schools that want to break out the pucks, basketballs and wrestling mats now know what they have to do to make that happen.

County executive Ryan McMahon announced on Thursday his department of health guidelines for the return of hockey, basketball, wrestling and competitive cheerleading, which had been on hold because they are classified as high-risk for the spread of coronavirus. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday lifted the ban on those sports pending approval from local departments of health.

Some of the key requirements include a mask mandate, a limit of two spectators per athlete at events and a 10-day shutdown of a team if any athlete or coach in a program tests positive for Covid. Schools are free to implement more restrictive fan requirements if they choose, and the Salt City Athletic Conference and the Onondaga High School League have indicated they will start the season with no fans in attendance.

Travel is also limited, with overnight stays for games discouraged and practices and games allowed only against teams within a school’s county or against counties with adjacent borders. In Onondaga County, that would mean competition only against schools located in Oswego, Madison, Cayuga and Cortland counties.

Practice is allowed to begin Monday, and most of the Section III schools will run their winter seasons into mid-March.

Here’s a rundown of some of the Onondaga County rules, which apply to scholastic and recreational sports.

Masks

• Masks that conform to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must be worn at all times, by all athletes, coaches, managers, referees/officials, spectators, individuals dropping off or picking up student-athletes, etc. If athletes are unable to wear a mask because of difficulty breathing during high intensity activities or swimming, they must wear all times when not actively playing, including when on bench or pool deck.
• Any mask that becomes saturated with sweat must be changed immediately.
• Reusable masks (cloth face coverings) must be washed daily in hot water and not reused until cleaned.
• Coaches, managers, and other school employees should monitor proper use and correct improper use by student-athletes, when indicated.

Fans

No more than two spectators per student-athlete are permitted for indoor sports, and indoor sports facilities are limited to allow 50 percent of capacity into their facility.

Testing

• If an athlete or coach has a positive Covid-19 diagnostic test, all in-person team or group activities (e.g., practices, scrimmages, games, meetings) will be canceled for ten days.
• Each team is responsible for screening all athletes and coaches for Covid-19 symptoms for every team event, including practice, scrimmage, or tournaments. Individuals who were exposed to a Covid-19 case or diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past 10 days are not allowed to participate in the sport or join spectators.

Travel

• Travel for practice or play to or from anywhere other than counties that border each other within Section III is not permitted.
• Superintendents/school leaders from districts from outside Onondaga County must stipulate to the host district/school that no one associated with the team is known to be ill or currently infected with SARS-CoV-2 prior to their team traveling to Onondaga County to participate in a practice or competition.
• Travel to/from interstate competitions is not recommended and travel to/from states with positivity rates that meet or exceed state orange and red zone micro-cluster rates is prohibited.
• Carpooling should be discouraged whenever possible.
• If traveling by buses, it’s strongly advised to conform to social distancing requirements for buses per state school transportation requirements; for recreational leagues, use of buses should also conform to state guidance for social distancing bus transportation requirements for schools.
• For games requiring overnight travel, the sharing of hotel rooms is strongly discouraged.
• Minimize congregate dining and when it is necessary, apply state social distancing regulations related to dining and gatherings should be adhered to.

Administration

• Each school superintendent/school leader, or appropriate person/entity for recreational leagues, must oversee the creation of a sport-specific preparedness plan that delineates:
• A daily system to ensure that no one associated with the practice or competition is ill, including referees/officials and spectators.
• A system for logging attendance by all individuals associated with the practice or competition, including referees/officials and spectators. The system must log names, phone numbers and email addresses.
• How practice and game times can be staggered to avoid crowding and congestion when participants, referees/officials and spectators are arriving, playing, and leaving.
• If feasible, how pods can be created to limit the potential for transmission in the event of an exposure. A pod is a group of athletes who only practice or play with members of their own pod.

Contact Lindsay Kramer anytime: Email | Twitter

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