Just when some sports teams thought that the clouds had parted and sunshine was on its way, another big rain cloud managed to come through and ruin the party.
Gov. Charlie Baker and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) released the newest guidelines for youth and adult amateur athletics under the Massachusetts reopening plan Monday afternoon, establishing three different risk categories for sports and a level system for how those sports can operate.
Sports in the “Lower Risk” category — sports characterized by the ability to safely social distance while playing, or sports that can be played individually — will be allowed the most room to operate. Sports in the “Moderate Risk” category — characterized by involving intermittent contact, but with protective equipment or mitigating measures in place that may reduce the likelihood of respiratory particle transmission between participants — will not be allowed to hold tournaments, while sports in the “High Risk” category — sports that involve close, sustained contact between participants, lack of significant protective barriers, and high probability that respiratory particles will be transmitted between participants — will have the most restrictions.
Sports that fall into the “Lower Risk” category include tennis, swimming, golf, disc golf, batting cages, biking, surfing, yoga and gymnastics, among others. “Moderate Risk” sports include baseball, softball, sailing, track and field, field hockey, volleyball and no-contact lacrosse. Sports that are considered “High Risk” include football, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse and martial arts, among others.
The way things shake out with the new rules, there are four levels of play for each risk category: • Level 1: Individual or socially distanced group activities (no-contact workouts, aerobic
conditioning, individual skill work, and drills)
- Level 2: Competitive Practices (Intra-team/group games, contact drills and scrimmages)
- Level 3: Competitions (Inter-team games, meets, matches, races, etc.)
- Level 4: Tournaments (Outdoor only)
Sports in the “Lower Risk” category will be allowed to participate in all levels of play, sports in the “Moderate Risk” category are allowed to participate in Levels 1, 2 and 3 of play, and sports in the “High Risk” category will be confined to just participating in Level 1 of play.
With the new regulations coming out Monday, local coaches and sports administrators were thrown for a loop. Expecting to be allowed to resume operations with the start of Phase 3, the new regulations have now put a hold on a number of summer leagues and the like for “High Risk” category sports.
“The most frustrating thing about these new regulations is the fact that we’re not going to be able to have summer leagues this year, and those are always a great opportunity for younger guys to go up against more experienced players and see how they stack up,” said St. Mary’s boys basketball coach Dave Brown. “We might not even be able to have fall leagues, who knows. Kids will always be doing work and running drills individually to get better during the summer, but it’s going to be a real learning experience to skip those summer league games.”
Full details of the new regulations for youth and adult amateur sports can be found at https://www.mass.gov/doc/safety-standards-for-youth-and-adult-amateur-sports-activities-phase-iii-step-1/download.
Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected].