New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Sports in fits and starts
Training facilities in Conn. looking for ways to safely reopen
When the shutdown due to the coronavirus happened in March, it closed sports training facilities during the busiest time of year for such businesses.
Normally, March and April inside a training facility would be filled with baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer players honing their crafts while waiting for the wet ground outside to become playable.
This year, the buildings sat empty.
Now, as the economy slowly reopens, sports training facilities are in a tricky spot between opening back up fully while also keeping the young athletes inside safe from the spread of the virus.
Many are taking a wait and see approach and delaying any decisions about reopening until they hear from Gov, Ned Lamont and the Center for Disease Contral and Prevention about how to do so safely.
Most facilities are closed at least through the end of June with a decision from the state expected to come on June 20.
This has put not just training and practices on hold, but also summer camps which are often run at many of these training centers.
The Connecticut Sportsplex in Branford is in a unique situation with a 60-acre outdoor area complementing the indoor complex.
“We are planning on opening the outdoor part on June 20. Indoors remains closed indefinitely,” Sportsplex owner Vincent Candelora said. “We have four outdoor fields for multipurpose use and five baseball and softball fields. We are waiting on guidelines from the state in terms of how we can do that safely.”
When the state does issue its guidelines, Candelora said the facility will be ready to go, albeit with games likely looking much different and being played in front of few, if any, spectators.
“For baseball and softball, we are going to try and limit contact by limiting rosters, closing off the dugouts, keeping kids distanced when their team is batting. We also may eliminate stealing bases which is where a lot of contact happens in baseball,” he said. “For sports like soccer we will play the game without having teams huddling and other steps. We will be following the state guidelines and using common sense tactics.”
At the SportsCenter of Connecticut in Shelton, the outdoor activities of mini-golf, driving ranges, target paintball and batting cages opened May 20.
The SportsCenter has no plans to open the indoor facilities until they feel it is totally safe, according to co-owner Nick Watson.
“Until the state gives our business the OK, we are not risking it,” Watson said. “All outside activities are open. We are taking steps to make sure that it is being done safely by limiting the number of people, sanitizing batting cages, golf balls and clubs.”
Watson said the first week of being back open was slower than he expected with many people still opting to stay home.
All staff at the SportsCenter are required to wear masks and gloves and their temperatures are checked daily.
Chelsea Piers in Stamford, which houses indoor playing fields, basketball courts, hockey rinks, pools and gymnastics apparatus is closed until at least the end of June.
On its website on May 13, See Centers on F11