NOTE: The video above originally aired on April 24, 2020
The Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union have approved resuming high school baseball and softball starting next week.
Both organizations met Wednesday to vote and approve resuming summer sports in 2020.
“The IHSAA thanks Dr. Lebo, Governor Reynolds, Dr. Pedati, the IDPH and all who have worked diligently to develop these guidelines to help us conduct a baseball season for the young people in Iowa,” IHSAA executive director Tom Keating said in a statement.
The Iowa Department of Education, along with the Iowa Department of Public Health, released guidelines for high school baseball and softball in the state to resume team practices on June 1 and games June 15.
“The guidelines laid out by the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health will enable us to safely move forward with a softball season this summer,” IGHSAU executive director Jean Berger said in a statement. “We are grateful for their leadership and support."
Guidance for practices starting June 1:
- Post signage prominently indicating no one should attend or participate in practice if they currently have symptoms or have been in contact with anyone with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis in the last 14 days.
- No dugouts may be used. Players’ items should be lined up against the fence at least six feet apart.
- Parents must remain in their cars or drop off and pick up players after practice.
- Players should use their own gloves, helmets, and bats as much as possible.
- Coaches are responsible for ensuring social distancing is maintained between players as much as possible. This means additional spacing between players while playing catch, changing drills so that players remain spaced out, and no congregating of players while waiting to bat.
- Players must bring their own water/beverage to consume during and after practice. No shared drinking fountains, portable hydration stations, or coolers may be used.
- Coaches must sanitize shared equipment before and after each practice.
- Players and coaches should check their temperatures before attending practices.
- Anyone with symptoms of illness is not allowed to practice.
- Coaches should be knowledgeable of their students with pre-existing health conditions and work with school nurses or other health officials to take additional precautions as needed.
- Players should be encouraged to provide their own hand sanitizer.
- Coaches must ban the spitting of sunflower seed shells.
- Coaches are responsible for tracking absences for the purpose of noting potential COVID-19 cases.
- Contact public health if a positive case of COVID-19 is reported.
Guidance for games starting June 15:
- Post signage prominently indicating no one should attend or participate in games if they currently have symptoms or have been in contact with anyone with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis in the last 14 days.
- Use of dugouts is permitted during games only.
- Players should use their own gloves, helmets, and bats as much as possible.
- Players must bring their own water/beverage to consume during and after games. No shared drinking fountains, water stations, or coolers may be used.
- Coaches must sanitize shared equipment before and after each game.
- Players and coaches should check their temperatures before attending practices or games.
- Anyone with symptoms of illness is not allowed to participate.
- Schools must limit the use of bleachers for fans. Encourage fans to bring their own chairs or stand. Fans should practice social distancing between different household units and accept personal responsibility for public health guidelines.
- Schools must also implement any other reasonable measures under the circumstances of each school to ensure social distancing of staff, students, and community members, increased hygiene practices, and other public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 consistent with guidance issued by the IDPH.
- Fans must not attend if they have symptoms of illness.
- No concessions stands are permitted.
- Contact public health if a positive case of COVID-19 is reported.
The release also notes that team-organized activities for all other sports remain suspended until July 1.