Santa Clara County youth sports COVID rules lead to more confusion

Public health officials in Santa Clara County have agreed to allow student-athletes to attend high school and club sports at the same time this spring as part of the reduction of COVID-19 restrictions.

But they appear to be sending mixed messages this week about what is allowed, which led to greater confusion on Thursday night for the youth athletics community to get kids back on the field.

“There is a lack of follow-up of what is being said and what is being done,” said Mike Wharton, a youth parent in Santa Clara. ‘Families make decisions about what comes out. Without making it clear, it makes it difficult to understand what you can do. ”

Instead of announcing the policy change in a written statement, it took place during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night. Updated guidelines released Thursday night did not address the change, saying sports must limited to one group.

A Santa Clara County official said Thursday night that the confusion stems from the California Department of Public Health’s restrictions, which are recommendations and not orders. While officials allow participation in various activities, the state strongly recommends people to limit events to one team.

The policy change only occurred during a supervisor meeting when dr. Sara Cody, the province’s public health officer, told councilors that children may play in more than one outdoor sports team.

Her response came in response to a question from council president Mike Wasserman, who said he had received a “multitude of inquiries” from people practicing high school and club sports.

“Only outside can people play for more than one team,” said dr. Cody said. “I think we cleared it up a few weeks ago, but just made it clear again that it was correct.”

But a provincial announcement Thursday in which the COVID-19 policy was updated referred to state guidelines in a section on youth sports. The state recommends that participation be practiced by athletes and coaches during training and that competition be limited to one team and ‘refrain from participating in more than one team during the same season or period.’

Wharton, who coaches Little League and youth soccer, said he wrote to Wasserman Thursday night asking for clarification. Wharton said the supervisor suggested that provincial officials do not have enough time to reflect the change when sending out the updated guidelines.

Wharton said he read the guidelines three times.

“There’s nothing that gives you the assurance that it’s OK” to play on multiple teams, he said.

Central Coast Division Commissioner Dave Grissom, who controls Santa Clara County High Schools’ office, said Friday that he plans to tell member schools that it will rest with them to take the lead over playing two teams at once. to apply.

“Our position is that we have constitutions and ordinances that we must abide by,” Grissom said, noting that the California Interscholastic Federation, the government’s high school governing body, has suspended the rules banning student athletes from playing high school and club. sports at the same time.

“Although the CDPH strongly advises children to be in one team, children can be in several teams according to CIF rules, and it is up to schools to apply how they want.”

Grissom said an athletic director spoke to him at the board meeting of Dr. Cody’s comments tell.

‘I finally got enough print back yesterday,’ Grissom said, ‘that I sent an email (to the county) titled’ Old Question. This is a question you have already answered, but I think I need to ask it one more time. “It was, ‘Can kids play in a club team and a high school team?’

‘I get the answer back late yesterday afternoon and all that’s standing here is the most recent guidance, and I say,’ Wait a minute, this is the CDPH guidance. ‘I can almost tell you the CDPH guidance. Why not answer the question? ”

Grissom is not the only one wondering about it.

The confusion began on Feb. 12 when managers of CCS members of high schools in Santa Clara County warned that their athletes were not allowed to participate in two teams based on a provincial guideline.

The CIF announced two days earlier that it was waiving the rules for the rest of the academic year on the issue of high school and club sports at the same time.

While the California Department of Public Health guidelines for California said athletes should stick to one group or sport, government officials said they do not expect the CIF to follow the recommendations.

However, Santa Clara province officials, who have enacted some of the country’s strictest coronavirus regulations, told high school officials at the time that they would follow the guidelines of the Department of Public Health.

If provincial officials changed the policy “a few weeks ago” as dr. Cody said people in the youth sports community were unaware of it, some said Thursday night.

A statement to Bay Area News Group on Feb. 12 from provincial officials said they were banning children from playing in two teams to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transfer in youth sports.

“For the same reason, the province does not allow youth to participate in multiple cohorts simultaneously for extracurricular activities, regardless of whether those activities are athletic or non-athletic,” the statement read.

“This rule is intended to limit interference and reduce the spread of COVID-19, so that children can return to school safely. This is the province’s top priority for youth. ”

This is not the first time that provincial officials have confused sports administrators, coaches and athletes from high schools.

At the end of January, provincial officials angered the youth sports community by mistakenly telling school overseers that they would restrict groups from staying at least 25 meters apart. Such a rule would have effectively stopped participation in almost every sport.

A day after the announcement, provincial health officials said they would adhere to state guidelines on social distance on the playing fields.