School sports face delta variant, but experts optimistic
There’s a clear consensus that high school sports will be played this fall. That’s more than can be said for this time last year when conditioning stopped and started and COVID-19 cases ticked upward by late summer, throwing the season into disarray.
What effect COVID-19 and the rising cases of the delta variant will have on this season, however, remains to be seen. Having managed through a spring season with
a significant drop in COVID cases at the time, mixed with the availability of a vaccine, there is reason for optimism as high school football teams can return to the field
for conditioning Monday and begin fullcontact practice by the end of the week.
“We are going to play,” Glenn Lungarini, the executive director of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference told Hearst Connecticut Media last week. “OTAs start Thursday. We start conditioning week on Monday and we’re ready to go. We’re looking forward to this year.”
The CIAC, the governing body for high school athletics in the state, released its guidance for athletes and coaches this past week while strongly recommending students get vaccinated. Indoor activities will require masks — just as returning to school indoors will require masks at least until Sept. 30, per Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order. But the guidance does allow for football to be played this year after the season was canceled in 2020.
David Banach, a UConn Health epidemiologist and head of infection prevention, said there was reason for optimism around football.
“With football, the contact periods are relatively brief during plays, and it’s outdoors which puts it at a lower risk compared to indoor sports,” Banach said this past week. “It’s difficult to make any definite conclusions about that, but the fact that it’s outdoors and players have transient
contact on the field makes it lower risk.”
Banach’s concern would center on places like locker rooms, team meeting rooms, or even car rides where team members were in close contact and especially if unmasked.
“Any attempt to take those group meetings outdoors is important, especially while the weather is still nice in the fall,” Banach said.
Coaches surveyed by Hearst Connecticut Media last week largely said they have made adjustments — from maskwearing to distancing — in order to play and ensure any risk of contracting the virus is limited. Several coaches said they have talked with players about getting vaccinated or at least speaking with family members about the decision. Some teams in the state met late last week for some kind of team activity before they begin training this week.
With a vaccines in place, the rules are different than last fall. Students who are vaccinated will not have to quarantine should they contract COVID-19 so long as they remain asymptomatic and wear a mask.
Students who are not vaccinated, however, must quarantine for at least 10 days and test negative, or quarantine for 14 days. The CIAC also recommends students getting tested weekly if unvaccinated.