Teams scramble amid closure

Santa Clara County shuts down sports starting Monday

Santa Clara County’s sports teams will be the first in the nation to navigate a second coronavirus shutdown, beginning Monday when a new county health order takes effect.

Team practices and games from the high school level to the pros will be banned in the county, and officials said there are no exceptions — not for the 49ers or any other team that gained county clearance to begin practicing again this summer or fall.

“That means that for those teams, they will not be able to play games or have practices where they have direct contact,” County Counsel James Williams said at a Saturday news conference.

The order will force teams in the midst of their seasons — such as the 49ers, the county’s college football and basketball teams — to act quickly. They will likely have to postpone or cancel games, or find an alternative location to practice and play outside the county, as some investigated or did prior to their seasons.

The Sharks, who are about to start training camp, have some quick thinking to do as well.

The situation for each of Santa Clara County sports teams, as it stood Saturday night, is detailed below.

49ers

The 49ers play today in Los Angeles. They return Sunday night, shortly after which they no longer will be allowed to use their headquarters.

Under the order, both practices and games are prohibited in Santa Clara County for three weeks beginning Monday. The Niners are scheduled to play the first of their three remaining home games next week, against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. They also have home

games Dec. 13 (vs. Washington) and Jan. 3 (vs. Seattle). The last of those games falls outside the three-week period, but it’s possible, if not likely, that the ban will be extended.

The 49ers said in a short statement Saturday that they are aware of the order and working with the NFL to find a solution.

One plausible outcome could see the Niners move across the Bay to the Oakland Coliseum, which the Raiders left for Las Vegas after last season. Whether Alameda County health officials would agree to such an arrangement is not known and, with coronavirus cases spiking everywhere, the situation is extremely fluid.

Colleges

At the college level, eight Santa Clara County teams are in season, most notably the Stanford and San Jose State football teams. Men’s and women’s basketball seasons are underway at those two schools, plus Santa Clara.

Both Stanford and San Jose State left the county to train ahead of their seasons. Stanford practiced for five days at Woodside High School in neighboring San Mateo County. At the time, Stanford coach David Shaw said he had multiple fallback plans if the Cardinal had to move during the season.

San Jose State left the county and went six hours north to Humboldt State’s Arcata campus for a week and a half before receiving clearance from Santa Clara County health officials to practice and play at home.

“All six basketball teams just began their seasons, though not without coronavirus- created hiccups. The Stanford men, Santa Clara women and San Jose State men all had their openers canceled — the Broncos’ women’s team received a positive test and began a two-week quarantine Tuesday.

The next game scheduled inside the county is set for just 14 hours after the ban takes effect: Stanford’s No. 2-ranked women are set to host San Diego Monday afternoon. The Cardinal’s women’s coach Tara Vanderveer is just four victories from passing Pat Summitt’s NCAA Division I-record 1,098 victories.”

The Santa Clara men played Nicholls State on Saturday afternoon in what will be the last sporting event in the county until Dec. 21, at the earliest.

T he Stanford women were to play Monday afternoon against San Diego State with coach Tara Vanderveer on the verge of becoming the winningest coach in college basketball history, men’s or women’s. Vanderveer is four wins away from passing Pat Summitt’s NCAA Division I-record 1,098 victories. Without the ban, that could have happened as early as Dec. 11 at Stanford.

Sharks

About a dozen Sharks players have been skating in small groups at Solar4america Ice, their training facility, with training camp expected to start in December.

The NHL has said it is aiming to open its season in January, though it has announced no firm dates yet.

The Sharks could potentially move their training camp to Solar4america Ice in Fremont or the Oakland Ice Center, two facilities in Alameda County that the team operates.

It is unclear, however, if the Sharks would run into the same issues there as far as skating in large groups as they might in Santa Clara County.

A nother possible location for training camp could be Las Vegas, where there are ample rinks for practices and hotel space for players and staff. This summer, Las Vegas was in the running to become one of the NHL’S playoff hubs before a spike in local coronavirus cases led the league to choose Toronto and Edmonton as its two bubble sites for the postseason.

The Sharks have not played since the NHL season shut down in March. They were not one of the 24 teams invited to the season restart.

High schools

The Central Coast Section initially circled Dec. 14 as a target date for beginning football practices after the season was delayed in July, but it became clear to many involved in prep football that such a restart was unrealistic as cases ticked up before Saturday’s county decision.

State officials signaled earlier this month that they planned to release updated guidelines allowing for some prep and youth sports, but were waiting to do so as cases contin

ued to rise.

Central Coast Section Commissioner Dave Grissom, whose section covers the county, said prep sports aren’t affected by Saturday’s ban because

the state is in a holding pattern.