Spartans’ practices at Humboldt are costly

The projected cost of temporarily relocating the San Jose State football team to Arcata to prepare for the 2020 Mountain West season is $100,000 to $150,000, a school official said Tuesday.

The expense will be paid through the school’s athletics’ budget, “similar to all football expenditures,” said Kenneth Mashinchi, senior director of media relations.

San Jose State officials provided the figures after the Bay Area News Group requested an accounting of the move that was done to get around Santa Clara County’s strict restrictions for outdoor activities because of the pandemic.

The total costs were calculated for meals, housing, use of Humboldt State University’s facilities and round-trip bus fare. The school hired six, 56-seat buses from Royal Grand tours to ensure that everyone practiced social distancing during the 320-mile trip, an athletics department spokesman said.

The total cost will be determined by how long the contingent of 141 people remains at Humboldt.

The football team moved out of Santa Clara County because public health officials have yet to approve a return to play application with the season set to begin on Oct. 24.

Coach Brent Brennan said on Monday that San Jose State needed a place to practice because the rest of the conference schools began football drills the day after the Sept. 24 announcement about the season’s start.

The Spartans are scheduled to play host to Air Force at CEFCU Stadium in 18 days. But the football team could remain in Humboldt until receiving clearance to hold contact drills and competitions at San Jose State.

Santa Clara County officials have not given an indication when SJSU and Stanford could return to full practices and games. But the state Department of Health gave the goahead last week in updated guidelines that list specific conditions that must be met before schools can return to play.

A San Jose State official said last week the football team would adhere to all state guidelines.

But schools also need local approval, which UCLA and USC received last week. Cal needs an OK from Berkeley while Stanford and SJSU are dealing with Santa Clara County, which is considering each request on a case-by-case basis, an official said. Stanford is not scheduled to play at home until Nov. 14 against Colorado.

While the move to Humboldt State is an unexpected expenditure for the athletics department, Brennan said the time away from San Jose has been valuable.

“It eliminates some of the general distractions that come with being a college student in a big city,” he said.

Officials expected the team to stay for a week but Brennan did not rule out the possibility of opening the season in Humboldt’s Redwood Bowl. Humboldt State disbanded football two years ago because of budget issues.

Brennan said the players are not allowed to leave campus and pose little risk to the Humboldt community.