Positive signs for contact sports to be played this fall in Ohio

Eleven sports defined as “contact sports” by the state are cleared for practice but may only hold competitions against other teams under strict guidelines. Those sports are football, basketball, rugby, field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, hockey, boxing, futsal and martial arts with opponents.

The guidelines include mandatory pregame testing for COVID-19 and quarantining of not only any individuals who test positive but the entire team and staff members if there is a positive test.

Those rules were put in place in early summer in large part to allow an alumni basketball tournament to be held in Columbus, but lifting them is widely viewed as necessary for high schools and youth teams to play contact sports this fall because of the cost of obtaining tests for an entire team multiple times throughout the fall.

The current order, which was re-upped Saturday and remains in effect indefinitely, also includes a prohibition of spectators at contact sporting events, but Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine told this news organization Monday that was meant to be “a placeholder” and no final decisions have been made.

Husted met with the OHSFCA on Monday afternoon and emphasized the necessity of adhering to guidelines — whatever those end up being — in order for a full fall sports season to be realized.

“We’re trying to keep the options open because we want student athletes to return to play,” Husted said at a press conference Tuesday. “We’re trying to accommodate both the health and the practical considerations that must go into any decision for the athletes, coaches, and fans. We understand the uncertainty and the anticipation surrounding the hopefully forthcoming announcement of that new guidance here in the near future, and I can tell you as the governor alluded there’s nobody in Ohio that I think wants to get this accomplished more than I do.

“We are working thoughtfully to make sure that we get these plans finalized in the right way.”

The 37-page document the coaches association previously sent to DeWine and Husted described plans to expand room on the sidelines and in the stands, reduce time in locker rooms and maintaining distance during timeouts, before and after games and on bus rides, where face-coverings would be mandatory and sharing seats forbidden.

The document also suggests limiting practice groups to nine players or less and conducting periods for no more than nine minutes at a time while relying on the Centers for Disease Control determination that individuals who spend less than 15 minutes in “constant close contact” are not at increased risk of community spread of the virus.

While practices and games last far longer the 15 minutes, the OHSFCA committee used the average length of a play (4-6 seconds) and the average number of plays in a game to conclude even offensive and defensive linemen who are engaged in full contact for the entire play cumulatively spend less than 15 minutes in close contact over the course of an average game. That was derived from a study of games over the past three years.

If the state agrees with that assessment, individuals who have COVID-like symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 could be quarantined without sidelining much or all of a team for a week or more.

Also Monday, the OHSAA sent a memo to member schools reiterating the current order from ODH is temporary.

“We continue to work with the Governor’s Office and Department of Health regarding potential modifications to various sections of the order and all parties are in concert in targeting late August as the start of permissible school vs. school contests in the sports of football, soccer and field hockey,” OHSAA interim executive director Bob Goldring said in a statement. “We will certainly keep the membership apprised of any changes to the director’s order in the coming weeks.”

All fall sports teams were allowed to begin practicing Saturday, but only cross country, golf, girls tennis and girls volleyball are cleared for games.

Several districts locally have paused or suspend workouts pending further developments with the pandemic.

>>The OHSAA announced Tuesday schools will will be allowed to seek rights fees from local media outlets or video production companies to produce live video from their home regular-season Friday night football games this season.

Previously, third parties were only allowed to show Friday night games on delay, but the change was made in anticipation of games being held in front of reduced-capacity crowds.

“We believe that many of our schools will be able to work with partners to stream and televise their home regular-season football games,” Goldring said in a release. “Most of our schools rely on revenue from their home football games to help fund their athletic department, so this is one way that schools can still do that while facing limited ticket sales.”