By Thomas J.Ryan

<span style="color: #a1a1a1;">A seminar held last Thursday by SFIA and featuring top executives from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the National Hockey League (NHL) and USA Volleyball, explored the health risks as team sports moves indoors for the upcoming winter sports season.

Ensuring safety protocols, as risks rise, headlined the major challenges facing winter team sports. More optimistically, many spring leagues have been able to resume play with fewer incidents of COVID-19 outbreaks. Moreover, best practices learned from those “return to play” efforts can be used to mitigate risks around fall and winter sports.

Among the positive developments, Jason Clement, founder and CEO at Sports Facilities Companies, one of the leading sports facilities companies in the country, said during the seminar that his facilities hosted over one million visitors since May and f0und only 22 reported COVID-19 cases tied to its events. Of the 22 infections, 13 were staff and 5 were youth participants.

USA Football highlighted a youth football league in Utah with 6,000 kids that were able to play 1,500 games with only 30 positive COVID-19 cases across its 11-week season that wrapped up last month.

Dr. Karissa Niehoff, executive director, NFHS, noted that widespread fears arrived as COVID-19 emerged and that youth sports could be “superspreader” events, but her associations have, likewise, reported “very, very low numbers” of positive cases as play returned. In many instances, the transmission of the virus did not start on the field of play. Across her 51 NFHS member associations, only six postponed early fall sports seasons. Niehoff added, “It’s encouraging,”

COVID-19 Cases Spike With Colder Weather
Playing sports during the summer was good because airborne transmission of COVID-19 is less likely to occur than when play is enclosed. Also, viral infections, such as the flu, are seasonal, with cases spiking when the weather is cold and/or dry. The coronavirus appears to follow that pattern with cases rising nationwide.

A primary challenge, Niehoff added, is that there are many unknowns about the virus, and adjustments have to be made on a continual basis.  “Unfortunately, we will always be in a caboose situation,” she said. “We don’t have the research ahead of time. We’ll have to capture the story as it happens.”

Niehoff added that while professional basketball and hockey leagues were able to resume play inside “bubble” environments, contact tracing is “very difficult” at the youth level. Compliance with safety protocols is more challenging across the youth sports ecosystem and that covers players, coaches, referees, fans, and facility personnel.

COVID-19 Incidents Are Happening Around Sports
On November 12, the governors of the six New England states, as well as New Jersey, announced that interstate youth hockey activities would be suspended for at least the rest of the year after competitions were linked to COVID-19 cluster cases. The outbreaks were traced to social gatherings and trips associated with games rather than games themselves.

“There needs to be more education around what’s working,” said Omar Mitchell, VP, sustainable infrastructure & growth initiatives, NHL. “Adopting those best practices will make our future look better.”

He believes facilities and community ice rinks are “very far along in their return” to normal with re-entry protocols supporting social distancing and enhanced sanitation. Some facilities have upgraded HVAC or mechanical systems to improve airflow. For hockey, play protocols include masks, limited ice time, modified schedules, and a focus on player density.

“There’s been a lot of best practice sharing, and that is a testament to the industry coming together and recognizing that we are better when we stand together and address the [coronavirus] head-on, rather than try to develop our own protocol.”

Yet Mitchell believes a core challenge is ensuring that the message about safety protocols is heard beyond game play. “It’s not the facility itself that’s getting COVID-19,” said Mitchell. “It’s the folks that come into the facility, whether they’re coming in by travel teams, carpools or gathering in parking lots. Those are the situations that are geared toward getting more viral transmission. And  education is a key point of that.”

Addressing the sport of basketball, Niehoff agreed that ensuring “best practices” externally is more of challenging such as encouraging those coming to games to avoid carpooling. “If the community takes all of this seriously and is on board with supporting a return to play, we have to all realize that we play a role on this team,” said Niehoff. “We all have a responsibility to get kids back [to play].”

Community Approach Required To Enforce Safety Measures
Basketball, which has been deemed a “moderate risk” sport by NSSF, has adopted “non-negotiable” protocols, including sanitation guidelines and changes in play to support social distancing. Changes include masks for all, including non-playing spectators, eliminating jump balls, the referee bouncing rather than handing off the ball to a player inbounding the ball, and limiting contact between the official’s scoring table and the bench.

Twenty-four of NFHS’ 50 associations intend to start their basketball seasons on time. Another 18 will modify their play season and nine are still determining next steps. Niehoff said an outside-the-box approach may be explored to reimage safe play.

“You’ve got to appreciate the size of your facility, the ventilation, the ability to keep it clean, and be looking at creative measures such as to how the game might be implemented that could involve social distancing, without compromising how the sport is played and consider if concessions are necessary,” said Niehoff. “Using creative and cautious thinking, but also common sense, we should be able to, when we are ready and where we are ready, bring kids back in a careful way.”

For Jamie Davis, president and CEO, USA Volleyball, the major initial challenges in dealing with the pandemic was changing guidelines, including whether or not to wear masks or gloves. Now, he agreed, it’s getting everybody to follow the guidelines.

Volleyball’s updated play protocols now include everybody wearing masks, referees using hand whistles instead of blowing whistles, no huddling after points are scored, and no high fives. Water stations have been removed and water bottles encouraged. Switching sides during matches has been eliminated unless there’s an obstruction such as sunlight coming in through a window that provides a disadvantage to playing on one side. Player benches have been removed and tape has been placed in areas where players can stay. Balls are sanitized between sets and courts sanitized between matches.

“We’re putting in a bunch of procedures,” said Davis. “But truly, if people don’t adhere to them, risks aren’t being mitigated to the way that we’re trying to have them mitigated.”

Costs To Fund Safety Measures Remains Hurdle
Mitchell hopes the professional leagues’ testing of electrostatic sprayers, UV germicidal irradiation, enhanced air filtration systems, and other safety measures, as they brought their games back, will offer insights for youth leagues and local facilities to enhance safety in a cost-efficient manner.

Mitchell added, “They are financially resource-strapped. And, at the end of the day, those community rinks are the ones that have to make decisions with limited budgets or no revenues.”

Davis believes the cost to comply with safety protocols would become “a major issue across the country” for sports. For its 2021 budget, for instance, USA Volleyball added $450,000 to its budget for COVID-19-related expenses to support its five championship events or $100,000 for each event. The costs include sanitization materials and investments in temperature checks. Davis said, “I think this cost is going to be a big issue across the country, at the high school level, the club level and at the pro level.”

Niehoff said high schools are also facing challenges around “human resources,” including having enough teachers, coaches, bus drivers, and other personnel that support local sports. Shortages of officials are being heard by the organization. She added, “We also have to pay attention to whether our adults will have to quarantine and whether all of the folks that make programs possible are available to execute programming.”

Davis noted that spring 2021 would also present newer challenges as fall sports have shifted to spring. Girls volleyball programs in several states have moved from fall to spring and they are facing competition for court time with boys volleyball and basketball programs. Official shortages could worsen as for referees across sports, Davis noted.

Local Approach To Bringing Back Sports Emphasized
One recommendation was avoiding a “one size does not fit all” across the country to guide the return to play. Davis said a national mandate could result in the “lowest common denominator,” or the most restrictive policies to best ensure safety. Davis said the result would be heavy restrictions being placed in regions where COVID-19 risks are minimal.

Niehoff also said a national mandate could lead to a “median” approach. In this case, some regions facing escalating cases would likely benefit from more restrictive measures while other areas facing fewer COVID-19 case exposure and could adapt with looser restrictions.

The panel agreed that those in the sports community should work to provide insights that can help guide legislators into making local decisions on gameplay. Davis said such insights could have supported a smoother return to play early on in the pandemic.

“There were decisions made when we weren’t as national governing bodies of our sports having a voice at the table and we’re the ones who were living and breathing it every day,” said Davis. He noted that USA Volleyball’s members include athletes, coaches, parents, and club directors.

“We’re not the lawmakers,” said Davis. “You ultimately can make the decision, but listen to us. We’re doing it because we have information from our membership, and we want to share it.”

Niehoff noted that many constituencies can be involved in making the decisions around safety protocols and play guidelines, including the school administration, athletic administration, local boards of education and health agencies, as well as local and federal legislators. She added the decisions are “complex” including based on local demographics, COVID-19-positive rates and resources. She likewise stressed that those integrally involved in supporting sports can play a role in ensuring sports are brought back safely.

“If you’re a person who could influence a decision or has some skin in the game, try to get yourself a seat at the table,” urged Niehoff. “If it’s a sports equipment manufacturer or anyone in the SFIA industry, you need to stay in touch with those people who are the decision-makers and bring your story to the table as well. Because maybe you can help. Maybe you can help to inform. And maybe you can get information in a timely manner that can help you make your own business decisions. But it’s a whole lot of folks. It’s complicated. And it has to be a collaborative effort. It cannot be one person in one lane making a decision for all.”

The webinar can be viewed here.