The state Department of Public Health recommended Thursday that the high school football and girls volleyball seasons be postponed until spring or canceled and that the other fall sports be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The recommendation comes a day after the state’s governing body for high school athletics voted in favor of moving forward with a fall sports season as planned.
In a letter sent to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the department issued its guidance regarding the return of fall sports. In the letter, the DPH confirmed that CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini had conversations with DPH staff on Aug. 9 and 10, and requested a written recommendation from the DPH on Wednesday. The CIAC’s board of control, however, did not wait for the recommendation before taking action.
“DPH does not believe it is necessary at this point to abandon the idea of having a fall interscholastic athletic season entirely, but we do recommend a very cautious approach to athletics, with a slow introduction of the lowest risk activities first,” the letter read.
The department advised the CIAC postpone all fall sports classified as high risk by the National Federation of High Schools to the spring, which only includes football in Connecticut. Additionally, girls volleyball, an indoor sport classified as moderate risk, was recommended to be moved to the spring. Sports classified as low risk (cross country girls swimming) and moderate risk (boys and girls soccer and field hockey) are allowed to be played, per the DPH.
“Full-contact football is unique among the fall interscholastic sports in our state in its level of risk to student-athletes for the person-to person spread of infectious respiratory droplets,” the notice read. “As you are aware, most of the collegiate conferences and many state high school interscholastic sport organizations have already postponed or canceled football for the upcoming season.
Additionally, the DPH recomended the CIAC postpones the start date of fall sports to two weeks following the reopening of in-person instruction in schools, citing the need for in-person education to become well-established before sports can return.
“It makes sense from a public health perspective to allow this process to become well-established before introducing sports,” the notice read.
The DPH advised teams play a shortened, regionalized schedule of no more than 12 games against the six closest schools, as well as limited locker room use.
Shawn McFarland can be reached at [email protected]
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