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By Drew Lawson
The Davenport Times 

WIAA releases guidelines for sports under coronavirus

 

Last updated 7/1/2020 at 9:50pm



RENTON – The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association released guidance for opening high school athletics and activities for 2020-21 in accordance with Gov. Jay Inslee’s four-phase state re-opening plan Monday.

The guidance document detailed guidelines for schools for each of the four phases. The document also noted that if a school or school district is closed over COVID-19 concerns, than all training, practices and games for that school or district should be canceled.

Points of emphasis for all four phases included decreasing exposure to respiratory droplets through physical distancing and mask wearing, constant testing for the virus, the possibility of isolation and quarantine by entire teams or students and limited travel.

The WIAA said coaches and athletes should be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 prior to all workouts. Anyone showing symptoms shouldn’t participate.

Good hygiene is another major emphasis. Students can’t share water bottles or use hydration stations. Facilities must be consistently sanitized before, during and after use.

Other points of emphasis include staying home when sick and holding as many activities as possible outdoors.

Lincoln County, which features predominantly 1B and 2B schools such as Reardan, Davenport and Odessa is in Phase 3 and is eligible to apply for Phase 4 on Friday.

Under Phase 3, gatherings would have to be limited to a maximum of 50 people, indoor or outdoor. Indoor activities are required to have space for physical distancing. Competitions are recommended to be limited to “local geography,” and sanitation will continually be stressed.

Under Phase 4, gatherings can be over 50 people, but indoors there must be space for social and physical distancing.

The WIAA also released guidelines specific to each sport within each phase. For example, football, which is considered a “high-risk” sport for transmitting COVID-19, must institute various physical distancing, personal hygiene and sanitation measures in accordance with whatever re-opening phase that team’s school is in. Examples of measures specific to football include the elimination of pre-and-postgame handshakes and each player having their own towel and water bottle.

Reardan co-athletic director Brian Graham told The Times last week that he is hopeful that fall sports will occur in 2020. However, he also said that if in-person learning is deemed to be unsafe and distance learning is the necessary strategy, than athletics and activities are highly unlikely to occur. This lines up with the WIAA’s guidelines released Monday.

Graham also noted that the school is looking into modified scheduling options in case not all schools on their various schedules can play, or geographical proximity remains an important point of emphasis from the Department of Health and WIAA.

“Maybe (we) play Davenport twice,” Graham said. “Maybe we play a team in Whitman County, (like) Colfax twice.”

The Times reached out to the Davenport athletic department, but they preferred to wait until more clarity was released on these details before commenting.

Author Bio

Drew Lawson, Editor

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Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.

 

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