WOAY – The WVSSAC has issued a set of recommendations and guidelines ahead of the three-week summer practice period for high school sports around the state.
The organization is recommending that the re-start of high school sports could occur in three phases. Phase One (recommended dates are June 10-19) would focus on conditioning, strength training, and agility, and would only use outdoor facilities, and include no more than 10 students in one “pod” while social distancing. It’s recommended that activity be limited to one hour per day per pod.
Phase Two (recommended dates are June 22-July 3) would continue focusing on conditioning, strength training, and agility, with the loosening restrictions; indoor facilities could be used, and the time limit for activities would increase to two hours. 10 students would remain the pod limit, but up to 25 students could be in a designated area.
Phase Three would be the formal three-week summer practice period, with dates to be decided by county; most area counties have elected to begin on July 6 and go through July 25. No activities between schools would be permitted, but the time limit would be three hours of activity per day. 10 students would remain the pod limit, but up to 50 students could be in a designated area. The WVSSAC recommends that any indoor activities that can be performed outdoors should be performed outdoors.
Sports with low or moderate risk (as defined by the National Federation of High Schools) would be permitted to participate in Phase Three. Sports with a high risk of contact (the SSAC guidelines mention football, cheerleading, and wrestling) are recommended to focus on individual drills without contact. The guidelines recommend face masks be worn as much as possible during any of the three phases, along with the presence of hand sanitizers and disinfectants on-site.
