Fall sports remain an uncertainty in Harvard, even as the governing association for interscholastic sports teams moves forward with plans for a modified fall season.
This week the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) approved general and sports-specific guidelines regulating safe play during the COVID-19 pandemic that will mean significant changes in how athletes are allowed to practice and compete. For one Harvard coach, though, having to adapt to this new environment is a small price to pay for the chance to come together as a team this fall.
The latest MIAA guidelines—approved by its COVID-19 task force—outline the precautions teams must take to practice and compete this season. Sports-specific modifications have been issued for cross-country, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and diving, volleyball, and dance. Guidelines that apply across all sports include limiting locker room use to 50% of previous capacity, eliminating the use of benches during practice, and a ban on handshaking.
Bromfield’s athletic director has not yet determined whether the town will participate in a fall season, but Marissa Steele, the boys cross-country coach, said that despite the stringent guidelines, she hopes for a competitive season. “A lot will be lost if we are not given any chance to have some type of season,” she wrote in an email to the Press.
For cross-country, the new guidelines require runners to practice in smaller groups and allow only dual meets, with staggered starts. The guidelines preclude in-person course previews, encourage the use of existing courses that are wide enough to accommodate social distancing, and require that the last 100 yards of a course be divided into two lanes to allow teams to finish on separate sides of the finish line, which must be at least 28 feet across.
Steele is confident that the proposed modifications can be met for dual meets and practices by grouping runners according to ability level and staggering starts for workouts and races. For practices, this would be a stricter variation of what is already a common way to run workouts, since teams often break into smaller groups to train with the teammates closest to their own ability level.
According to an MIAA press release, the sports-specific guidelines are based on recommendations from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and were approved Aug. 27.
The guidelines specify rules that discourage shared equipment, and encourage social distancing and cohort-style play. It is recommended that athletes and coaches self-screen for symptoms before each practice or game and not attend if they are symptomatic or have a temperature of 100.4°F or higher.
It will be the responsibility of coaches to ensure that athletes adhere to guidelines for both social distancing and use of face coverings.
The MIAA also recommends, but does not require, that schools designate a COVID-19 coach. This person would be responsible for educating and training coaches, officials, and staff on safety protocols and responding to health and safety concerns from the community.
Despite the commitment required of coaches and athletes to meet these guidelines, Steele sees cooperation as a means to avoid the worst-case scenario: no season at all. “It behooves us as coaches [and] athletes to make every effort to follow these restrictions in order to reap the multiple benefits that organized sports can provide this fall,” she wrote.
Ready for competition
Steele is excited about her team’s prospects this fall, given the diligence she has seen her athletes practice over the summer. She said nine runners, both boys and girls, each put in at least 300 miles since summer training began in June. This is a milestone she typically sees only one or two runners achieve each year. “With their spring season taken away, these kids needed something to look forward to, a goal to strive for. They can’t wait to be able to run races, be back on their team, and show off all their hard work.”
Competition aside, Steele believes that running has played an important role in keeping kids grounded throughout the past few months. “Numerous parents have told me that running has been their kids’ salvation during this pandemic. It has been an anchor for the kids—providing them a physical and mental outlet when most other things have been taken away from them.”
She pointed to the positive correlation between sports and student well-being seen even during normal times, such as greater efficiency completing homework and a lesser tendency to get in trouble. “It is more important than ever to provide this opportunity for them in light of the pandemic.”
Modifications for the remaining seven sports the MIAA has greenlighted for competition this fall can be accessed at http://miaa.net/miaa/home?sid=38.
