Preps eye return
A lawsuit settlement paves the way for indoor high school sports to resume in California.
California cleared indoor high school sports to return to competition Thursday night, when the California Department of Public Health issued updated youth sports guidelines.
The changes were made hours after the youth sports advocacy group Let Them Play CA and lawyers representing two high school football players in a lawsuit against the state announced that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the CDPH had agreed to make changes to the guidelines as part of a settlement agreement.
The state health department stated that indoor sports, or any team sport for that matter, can return to competition if it follows the safety protocols outlined for college athletics to compete amid the pandemic. The protocols include “regular periodic COVID-19 testing of athletes and support staff” before a return to practice, providing results within 48 hours of each competition, safety plans and policies for quarantines.
But the CDPH listed the conditions under a section titled “Conditions for return to play if not otherwise authorized,” leading to speculation that the collegestyle rules apply to sports attempting to play before reaching their approved tier assignment under previous guidance.
“Today’s update specifies that teams can return to competition earlier than otherwise authorized under the previous guidance, which was issued on February 19, 2021, but only if they adhere to the stricter requirements in place for college teams,” the health department stated in a press release.
“The previous guidance, which incorporated mitigation steps that can reasonably be implemented by youth and amateur teams that do not have the same resources available to them as professional and college teams, has no additional substantive changes.”
The indoor sports of basketball, wrestling and volleyball have each been placed in the optimal yellow tier, or minimal risk for the virus. The return of those sports had been uncertain because the yellow tier includes an adjusted case rate of under 1 per 100,000 people.
The lawyers involved in a lawsuit, filed by two San Diego high school football players against Newsom, the (CDPH), and the county of San Diego, announced that the settlement included guidelines to allow for indoor sports such as basketball, volleyball and wrestling to resume high school and youth competition statewide with certain conditions.
San Diego-based attorney Ian Friedman, who along with Stephen Grebing represents the players and their parents, said the indoor sports would receive the chance to play using similar instructions given from the state to high-contact, outdoor sports on Feb. 19.
“We’re excited,” Friedman said of the settlement. “It will ultimately lead to the return of all indoor sports throughout all of California.”
Newsom said at a press briefing during the afternoon in San Joaquin County that he didn’t “have enough details on the settlement” but was pleased with progress youth sports have made with the state’s latest modifications.
Brad Hensley, one of the founders of the grassroots group Let Them Play CA, called the settlement “great for kids in California that play youth sports.”
“For some of the kids, I hope that they’ll learn this is a civics lesson,” he said. “We wanted to bring youth sports back to California immediately, safely and in a positive way.”
The indoor teams, Friedman said, would be required to follow testing programs until their county reaches the optimal yellow tier.
“So it looks like there will be testing for a while,” said Serra High of San Mateo football coach Patrick Walsh, part of Golden State HS Football Coaches Community that has supported the return to play movement.
Grebing predicted during a press conference that the CIF and county officials will also need to sign off on the revised guidelines.
“They’re very close to what you would find by way of the California collegiate guidelines,” Grebing said of the update. “There will be some spectators allowed to come to some of the sports. Indoor sports will be allowed with testing, testing within 48 hours of competition and periodical testing during the week.”
Grebing’s firm has filed at least six lawsuit across the state, including in Orange and San Bernardino counties, essentially arguing under equal protection statues that high school athletes have been treated unfairly because college and professional sports have been allowed during the pandemic while high schools have been mostly shut down from competing since last March.