(UPDATED) Cuomo Administration will allow high-risk High School sports to commence beginning Feb. 1, if local health departments approve
*UPDATED 1.28.21 WITH LATEST FROM ACDOH AND WNYDOH*
BELMONT — And now the wait will officially be over. On Thursday, the Allegany County Department of Health has officially approved play for moderate and high-risk sports as along as they are in compliance with New York State guidelines, after they were announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday (see below for official statement from Cuomo).
Now, all responsible parties (being the schools, businesses, leagues, organizations) must follow the New York State Department of Health’s guidance for sports and recreation for during the COVID-19 emergency. Per the State’s guidance, indoor facilities must limit their capacity to no more than 50 people, with a maximum of two spectators per player. The move comes while Section VI off to the west, has announced that they will allow no spectators but will reconvene on the topic at a later time.
In addition, protocols to ensure the social distancing, the use of face coverings and enhanced disinfection must be implemented. For moderate or higher-risk sports, if an athlete, coach or referee receives a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, all in-person team or group activities (games, practices, etc.) may result in a 10-day suspension to prevent the spread of infection.
Along with all the guidance steps that must be enforced, the Allegany County Department of Health (ACDOH) will consider to monitor many factors. Those being:
Whether there is a more transmissible variant of COVID-19 identified in the area
Local rates of COVID-19 transmission or rate of positivity
Local ability to monitor and enforce compliance.
The news provided by the Allegany County Department of Health comes in light of a joint statement released by the Western New York Department of Health calling for the cancellation or suspension of the 2021 wrestling season, due to the high-risk of possible COVID-19 transmission.
The official statement reads as follows:
The leaders of the five county health departments (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara) in Western New York (WNY) are providing the following joint statement related to wrestling programs. This announcement follows updates to the NY Forward Interim Guidance for Sports and Recreation on January 22, 2021.
Revisions to the guidance relaxed certain restrictions on higher-risk sports, including wrestling. Wrestling involves participants sparring in very close physical proximity for extended periods of time, which significantly increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Similarly, masks, which are a method of COVID-19 risk reduction, are not recommended to be worn during wrestling because of a choking hazard.
Further, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report1 (MMWR) published January 26, 2021, summarized a large COVID outbreak associated with a wrestling tournament in December 2020. Through a case investigation that spanned three counties and included diagnostic testing of contacts, the report noted hundreds of contacts, significant losses of in-person learning days, suspension of all winter indoor and outdoor high school athletics in one county, and one death resulting from multiple exposures during this wrestling tournament.
The circumstances outlined in that MMWR brief could easily be replicated at any WNY wrestling tournament. In the interests of limiting risk and protecting the health of athletes, their classmates, households, and coaching and teaching staff within schools, WNY health department leaders strongly recommend that interscholastic, intramural, and amateur wrestling teams and leagues cancel or postpone their winter 2021 seasons to a later date, when community transmission of COVID-19 is significantly lower. Coaching staff and parents should consider promoting individual training and distanced group exercises.
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*UPDATED 1.26.21 WITH OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM SECTION V*
NEWARK — On Tuesday, members of the Athletic Council, the governing body of Section V Athletics, voted on many items related to the authorization of high-risk sports to begin on February 1, pending approval from local departments of health. Any section of the New York State Public High School Association (NYSPHSAA) has the authority to determine a later start date than what is provided by the NYSPHSAA.
All high-risk sports will need approval from their local departments of health before they can proceed. Section V Athletics reaches 12 different local departments of health and the request for approval has been made to each of them as of Monday, January 25.
Winter high-risk sports are basketball, ice hockey and wrestling. The Winter high-risk sports season will begin on February 1, pending approval. The regular season must end by Saturday, March 6, and Sectionals will conclude by Sunday, March 14. Our leagues are now responsible to determine the regular season schedule within the dates mentioned above.
For the Winter high-risk sports season, the Sectional tournaments will be a closed Sectional format to be determined, and all events will be hosted at the higher seed. The Fall-II sports are Competitive Cheerleading, Football and Volleyball. We will finalize start and end dates for the Fall-II sports season in the coming weeks.
Spring sports are Baseball, Golf, Boys Tennis, Lacrosse, Softball and Track & Field. The NYSPHSAA Spring sports season start date is Monday, April 19. We will continue to be sensitive to the Spring sports that have already missed a complete season and Sectional/State championship last year due to the pandemic.
At this time, only two spectators per athlete are permitted according to the New York State Department of Health, but local departments of health can be more restrictive. Section V will make every attempt to livestream events as they were in the previous seasons.
If more updates are provided on the status of the Winter season, as well as the upcoming seasons, we will continue to add onto this article.
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ALBANY — With Governor Andrew Cuomo making the decision to allow fans into Bills Stadium for the first time this season to see the Buffalo Bills pave their amazing road through the playoffs after a glorious regular season, many families of student-athletes from across New York State have wondering all through the winter how come they have yet to hear about the future of winter sports.
Last month, it was announced that all athletics for the Winter season, aside from the low-risk sports such as swimming around here locally, had been put on an indefinite hold because of the rising uptick in Coronavirus cases.
But on Friday, a spark of hope was provided to those families, as well as the student-athletes themselves - Sports will be coming back.
It was announced that just over a week from now, on February 1, according to the Governor’s updated article on Sports Guidance for High Schools across the State, that participants in high-risk sports such as football, basketball, wrestling, volleyball and competitive cheerleading may officially partake in the festivities, but the Governor has passed on the decision to approve of such activities to the local County Health Departments.
In addition to his updated guidance on high-risk sports, it is also noted that for the activities to commence, the local health authorities must consider factors such as: whether there has been a more-transmissible variant of COVID-19 identified in the area, the local rates of COVID-19 transmissions or rate of positivity, and the local ability to monitor and enforce compliance.
As far as traveling elsewhere for play games? The State will continue expressly discouraging the travel, prohibiting it outside the region of contiguous counties. Interstate travel for practice and/or play is also strongly discouraged, but if it is undertaken, they must strictly adhere to the guidelines regarding such travel, which lists that travel to practice or play from any area within New York that has been designated as a red or orange zone may only be permitted following consultation with the respective state or local health authorities with consideration of the factors outlined.
For designated yellow zones in the State, it is permitted as long as it adheres to all guidelines.
A very hopeful sign for perhaps a return for Winter and Spring sports in the coming months. If more details are provided, we will update this article with any further updates.
