Page 6 - 2020 Sollenberger

Proceed with caution: Navigating COVID-19 safely a top priority
By Les Willsey azpreps365.com
It’s a truce for prep football in Arizona in its bout with COVID-19 now that the first week of October is on the hori- zon.
Football games are set to begin six weeks after their orig- inal start date. A troublesome metric was adjusted (cases per 100,000) Sept. 17 allowing first games to be played next week (Oct. 1 and Oct. 2).
It can be said every Arizona school has battled this common opponent through spring, summer and now into fall. Schools - many, not all - were finally allowed to begin practice, and acclimatization six weeks later than usual (Sept. 7 instead of July 27) after several delays issued by the Arizona Interscholastic Association due to COVID-19 concerns.
And still not every school district has approved the start of practice let alone the buckling of a chin strap for Game 1. Most, if not all, reservation schools in the state bowed out from football and all fall sports before July after taking a vicious hit from the virus in May and June.
The AIA has constantly huddled with the Sports Medi- cine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and has combed throug guidelines put out by the Center for Disease Control and Arizona Department of Health. The 2020 season will be unique with many safety protocols inserted into games (see link to football modifications among other fall sports on the following page).
Most school districts have set policy for home games
in the wake of games starting, allowing fans to attend mostly in smaller than stadium capacity percentage. The OK to play games came Sept. 17 with an adjustment from the original 10 cases per metric to 75 cases per 100,000 came after AIA staff gathered additional data from some 20 states that successfully started their football seasons in August and September.
Some did so with higher case numbers than Arizona has at present.
“Seeing the positive results in other states was a big
help to reach this conclusion,” AIA Executive Director David Hines said. “It’s a testament to those associations for put- ting proper rules in place so football can happen. We have similar numbers and similar safety recommendations as compared to those states.”
Utah, for example, has been quite successful.
The state was able to start on time and is well into the second half of its season with only a handful of game post- ponements due to COVID-19 issues.
“There will be continuing dialogue with SMAC and health officials,” Hines said. “Schools have done a great job in helping make this happen. They must continue to do that with protocols that are in place.”
Hines was confident daily practices would be conducted in accordance with guidelines both before they were offi- cially allowed Sept. 7 and after teams hit the field. It’s what happens outside the realm of workouts where anxiety rises.
“What happens with the kids once they leave practice,” Hines noted. “To a degree the kids suffer from things they can’t control, the populace outside of them. Everyone has to be on board with the basic things, masking up, social distancing, if we’re going to have football and continue sports that have already begun.”
SMAC, comprised of 28 members including doctors, ath- letic trainers, surgeons, specialists and medical personnel associated with the four professional sports and Arizona’s universities, was steadfast in its recommendations. At the same time, open to data the AIA brought as well.
SMAC is currently chaired by Dr. Kristina Wilson, a pe- diatric primary care sports medicine physician at Phoenix Children’s Hospital since 2010. The key metrics guiding return to school and opening of athletics were 3-5 percent or less positivity in a district or county, five percent or less hospitalizations due to COVID-like illnesses, and 10 cases or less per 100,000.
As mid-September dawned, Wilson was acutely aware of what consumes athletes, parents and schools keenly interested in playing football games.
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Defending 6A champion Liberty has been implementing all safety guidelines since the first day of practice. (Steve Paynter photo/Paynter’s Pics)