Fall practice begins amid uncertainty

By Mike Zummo
Posted 8/25/21

All Fall sports are on.

So far.

All area fall athletes took the field, or court, or swimming pool on Monday for the start of the Fall 2021 athletic season. That start happened without official …

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Fall practice begins amid uncertainty

Posted

All Fall sports are on.

So far.

All area fall athletes took the field, or court, or swimming pool on Monday for the start of the Fall 2021 athletic season. That start happened without official guidance from Section 9.

Section 9 Executive Director Greg Ransom said last Thursday section officials have created draft guidance that is expected to be voted on at the end of this week. Prior to the vote, he said all fall sports were scheduled to begin on Monday.

Newburgh Enlarged City School District Superintendent Roberto Padilla said at a Back-to-School Town Hall meeting on Aug. 18 that Section 9 is expected to mandate masking for indoor athletes. He also said masks are expected to be required for all spectators – both indoor and outdoor.

He also said those guidelines were only for Fall sports.

Any spectators at all would be welcome for indoor sports, especially volleyball, which played during the March/April Fall 2 season in gyms with no spectators.

It is, however, unclear at this time whether there will be spectators indoors.

Valley Central’s Back to school plan says masks will not be required for outdoor sports but will be required for athletes in indoor sports. Spectators will be allowed as per guidelines provided by the state.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said in last Thursday night’s COVID briefing that state guidance was expected this week, and he said indoor sports are going to be under greater scrutiny than outdoor sports.

“Let’s just wait and see what happens next week when the guidance comes down,” Neuhaus said. “We’re just going to have to work through it.”

He also said two factors to consider are that many of the kids competing in interscholastic sports are young athletes, and they’re competing against neighboring school districts.

“That’s where this movement of being uniform comes from,” Neuhaus said. “So, you don’t have some kids playing against districts that have different standards.”

Swimming and diving, which are considered low- and moderate-risk was not only conducted without spectators, but also without opponents as the meets were virtual with the other teams competing in their own pools without spectators.

The New York State Education Dept. threw the state athletic scene into a frenzy on Aug. 12 when it realized guidance suggesting that all high-risk sports be canceled in areas of high community transmission of COVID-19 unless all participants are fully vaccinated.

As of Friday, no one had blinked and postponed football or volleyball, as NYSED only delivered recommendations, not mandates.

Last season, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association postponed high-risk fall sports to a March/April “Fall 2” season. Section 9 went a step further by postponing all Fall sports to the Fall 2 season.
The first higher-risk sports to take the field was basketball and wrestling in February in empty gymnasiums with a few teams not being able to get their approvals together in time to participate.

However, most local programs were on the field in March, while a few teams had to shut down for a period during the Fall 2 season. There were fewer required quarantines during the spring season.