USC athletes can come back today

Football, basketball players are part of the first phase of return from coronavirus.

USC student-athletes will begin a multiphase return to campus for voluntary workouts beginning Wednesday, the school announced in a statement Tuesday night.

Six teams — football, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s water polo — will be included in the first phases of return from the coronavirus crisis, with only local returning athletes (living within about an hour commute of the school) allowed to initially begin training on campus.

Non-local returning athletes in those six sports can return to campus during the second stage, which is targeted to begin July 6. New and incoming student-athletes in those sports won’t be allowed to begin the preparticipation process until the beginning of the third phase, currently slated to begin July 13. The return for student-athletes in other sports remains undetermined.

The school said all student-athletes will be required to complete a preparticipation checklist — which includes a COVID-19 test and the signing of a “risk and shared responsibility acknowledgment form” — and that the athletic department’s medical staff “will make the final determination on a student-athlete’s clearance to participate in voluntary workouts.”

After the initial round of COVID-19 tests, the school plans to test its athletes weekly.

USC joins a host of other schools around the country in rolling out a tiered return to sports. Athletes at UCLA were allowed to begin coming back to campus Monday. Other Pac-12 Conference schools were able to return as early as June 15.

Some schools have seen a rise of COVID-19 cases as athletes returned to campus.

Dr. Sarah Van Orman, USC’s chief medical officer, acknowledged in the statement “the reality is that we expect to have positive tests and outbreaks in our university community, including in athletics.” She added that the Trojans “have been very thorough in planning for such occurrences and to prevent the spread of the virus.”

Included in those safety plans are daily symptom questionnaires for all individuals entering an athletics facility, temperature checks, face covering requirements, social distancing rules for weight room and on-field activities and specific laundry procedures.

Player meetings with coaches will continue to be held virtually through at least the end of the month.