“Judging from the smiles on their faces,” said Athletic Director Brad Daum Wednesday night, as he presented the plan for fall sports to the Board of Trustees, “students are extremely excited.”
Soccer, Volleyball, and Football games are back on the roster for CCHS. Games will be held on Fridays and Saturdays during a modified six-week season. Tennis, Cross Country, and Golf will be played on various days as scheduled.
Eighty-one players on both the Varsity and JV Football teams will be competing this year, provided they comply with the strict list of COVID-19 protocols outlined by the Nevada Interscholastic Sports Association, NIAA. Due to the modified season and school year, no freshman football will be played, but with any luck will start back up next fall.
The first of the Saturday games will be held on March 6, with a regional-type tournament scheduled at the end of the six-week season. However, according to Daum, there will be no sanctioned state championship game this year and no overnight trips for games.
The NIAA has added two teams to the 3A League – Wooster and Hug High Schools. As a result, the league has been divided into two divisions, East and West. Churchill County falls in the East Division and competes against Elko, Spring Creek, Lowry, Fernley, and Dayton.
This means considerable travel for teams in East Division, as opposed to the West Division, which includes North Valleys, South Tahoe, Sparks, Hug, Truckee, and Wooster High Schools.
The football teams started practice last Thursday with helmets only and have added shoulder pads this week, with full contact practice beginning on Thursday, February 25. “We’re taking it slow,” Daum said, ‘These kids have done nothing for a year, and we’re hoping to prevent injuries.”
Procedures for each sport include daily temperature checks and a five-question survey regarding potential symptoms. Coaches must keep a log for each athlete and make that available prior to contests.
“During the Athletic Director meeting, we left it to coaches on event day to test their teams,” said Daum. “We are trusting them to do that.” Additionally, an administrator must accompany the Football, Volleyball, and Soccer teams for away-games. “We will test each athlete before we leave and they will stay home if they have symptoms.”
Additionally, there will be team boxes keeping athletes six feet apart on the side of the field and the gym. Daum said it would take an entire side of the gym for volleyball. All fans must be 25 feet away from the court and the field, which limits gym stands to the top four rows. Until March 15, the occupancy limit for fans is 100 at one time, and after that, the limit increases to 250, both inside and out. Masks must be worn at all times by everyone.
At this point, the decision has been made to give spectator tickets to the home team, with two tickets per athlete. “For football, with 50 kids on a team, that’s all 100 tickets and that is the limit,” said Daum. On March 15, that changes with the limit going up to 250 spectators.
According to Daum, the entire stadium and facilities work crew must be COVID tested and cleared or have received their complete COVID vaccination. Athletes, coaching staff, and managers must be tested weekly. Locker rooms cannot be used, but Daum stated that he is talking to the City of Fallon to see about using the big white tents for visiting teams. “There is talk about having the visiting teams come dressed and ready to play,” he said, “but we’re not sure how that would work.” There are also the officials to consider, and classrooms may be opened for their changing needs.”
The visiting team cannot arrive more than 45 minutes before the game, with 15 minutes set aside for testing protocols, which leaves the necessary 30-minute warm-up time. “As soon as the game is over, the visiting team has to leave,” said Daum.
Spring sports have been approved to start on April 3 and will go through May 22, creating a bit of an overlap with the fall sports, which run through April 10.
The district has installed a camera system in the gym and is in the process of installing another system in the stadium that will allow spectators to watch games remotely.
Parent Julie Guerrero-Goetsch, who attended the board meeting, complimented everyone who put together the plan for athletics; however, she expressed concern that students are not returning to the classroom full time. “The state is allowing us to make changes both for athletics and for education and the same willingness to get kids on the field should be applied to getting students back in the classrooms full time,” said Guerrero-Goetsch. “The NIAA is allowing the opening of sports and therefore we are finding solutions for students in sports and we should apply the same process to education.”
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