BLADENBORO — Tennis could be played this fall. Cross country has a thumbs up, too.
But under the interim guidance for youth, college and amateur sports released Friday by Gov. Roy Cooper and Dr. Mandy Cohen, the fall at West Bladen and East Bladen high schools and others around the state could be devoid of football, soccer and competitive cheer.
Same for city, county and regional sports organizations.
The state document is a guidance and not an executive order. The N.C. High School Athletic Association said it would have more to say at a Zoom news conference Tuesday at 4 p.m.
The NCHSAA ended its spring seasons after only two weeks because of the coronavirus. It kept the suspended seasons alive as long as possible, before finally calling it quits on April 24 following Cooper’s announced extension of the stay at home order to May 8.
“Since we have not yet had an opportunity to discuss the guidelines mentioned by the governor and Dr. Cohen with a broader audience in our membership, we will spend the next several days discussing options, opportunities and best practices for resuming activity with our board of directors and sports medicine advisory committee, in addition to other stakeholder groups such as principals, athletic director, coaches groups, etc.,” NCHSAA spokesman James Alverson wrote in a Friday afternoon email. “These conversations will help us determine a more specific and detailed path forward.”
The NCHSAA said earlier this month its dead period in place since midnight March 13 would end June 1. It doesn’t necessarily give a full-on go to sports teams; rather, it set a date the association felt “necessary and important to ensure that there is consistency as we move towards what is typically the summer season.”
Campus facilities can’t be open unless they are open to the public.
The state recommendation, however, could allow the NCHSAA to get creative. Changing traditional seasons is possible. For example, it is not unusual to find that some sports played in the fall in one state are played in the spring in another.
DHHS “recommends limiting sports activities to those in which participants can maintain social distancing, or close contact is limited and brief.” It gives as examples golf, baseball, softball, cycling, swimming, diving, dance, tennis, disc golf, horseback riding, track and field, figure skating, curling, running and pickleball.
On the other side, DHHS said it “does not recommend sports activities for which participants cannot maintain social distancing and close contact is frequent and/or prolonged.” Those examples included football, competitive cheer, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, wrestling, rugby and hockey.
Both Bladen County high schools compete in the fall with girls tennis, volleyball, boys soccer, football, and boys and girls cross country. In the winter, each competes only in basketball, for both boys and girls. In the spring, the schools play boys tennis, girls soccer, baseball, softball, boys golf, and boys and girls track and field.
DHHS said, “All organizations and programs that gather groups of people should create and implement a plan to minimize the opportunity for COVID-19 transmission.”
DHHS said spectators “are allowed when in compliance with the limit on mass gatherings and social distancing is adhered to.”
Among a long list of items for practices and games, the guidance includes no shaking hands, high fives or fist bumps; cloth face coverings for anyone not engaged in physical activity; limit sharing equipment; no shared towels; prepackaged food only; having a plan for immediate removal of anyone showing symptoms of the virus; and screening prior to activities.
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