BCAA will delay sports start due to virus spike
The Broward County Athletic Association was hoping to allow teams to start summer workouts on Monday.
But with coronavirus cases spiking in Florida — the Department of Health reported a record-high number of cases on Thursday and another 9,488 cases on Friday — the BCAA has pushed the tentative start date to July 13, according to BCAA Director of Athletics and Student Activities Shawn Cerra.
“The health and safety of our athletes, coaches and staff are always our priorities,” Cerra said. “Voluntary conditioning is tentatively set to begin on July 13th for high school fall sports athletes only. We will continue to seek advice and input from our health services department and our local medical professionals before making a final decision. We are also closely monitoring the CDC guidelines while keeping our school communities up to date with regards to our goal of returning on the 13th.”
BCAA teams, which include all of the county’s public schools plus Cardinal Gibbons, Coral Springs Charter, Pembroke Pines Charter and
St. Thomas Aquinas, will be required to follow several guidelines when workouts begin.
Workouts will consist only of weightlifting, running and physical fitness drills. Teams will not be allowed to run sport-specific drills or use sport-specific equipment.
Workouts are encouraged to take place outdoors, and participants will be required apart.
Masks will be required when entering and exiting the training facility and when people cannot stay six feet apart.
Students participating in workouts will have to be organized into groups of 10 people or less, including the coach and medical personnel. Students will be required to stay in those groups and are encouraged to not interact with other groups. The guidelines note that group sizes may be larger depending on the to stay feet size of used.
Coaches will be required to take a daily record of which players attend the voluntary sessions and if they present any coronavirus-related symptoms. Coaches will have to monitor players for temperatures over 100.4 degrees, chills, coughs, muscle aches, headaches, sore throats, runny noses, nausea, vomiting and loss of sense of taste or smell. If players present any of those symptoms, they will not be allowed to participate the facility being in the workouts.
Coaches will also be required to clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and equipment. Freeweight exercises that require a spotter will not be allowed.
Players will be required to bring their own water bottles, shoes, towels and other personal equipment. Teams will not be allowed to use shared locker rooms, shared water coolers or water fountains.