Testing mandate for football, water polo ending in Riverside County
Riverside County’s adjusted case rate for the coronavirus dropped to 6.1 on Tuesday, March 16, which means the weekly testing of high school football and water polo athletes before competitions is no longer a requirement.
The California Department of Public Health’s guidelines for youth sports require football and water polo to be tested when a county’s adjusted case rate (cases per 100,000 residents, adjusted for the volume of testing) is between 7 and 14. Riverside County’s updated number marked a 26.5% drop from the previous week’s rate of 8.3.
San Bernardino County reached the threshold on March 9, and the county’s current adjusted case rate Tuesday was at 5.2.
A handful of water polo teams in Riverside and San Bernardino counties have competed in recent weeks. The CIF Southern Section has set an end date of Saturday, March 20 for the boys and girls water polo seasons.
Several football teams in Riverside and San Bernardino counties will play their first official games of the season this week, and the established end date for the high school football season is April 17.
For areas below the 7.0 mark, the decision to stop or continue testing athletes in these sports will vary by school district.
Beaumont Unified School District spokeswoman Francinni Zabata said testing was scheduled for football players on Wednesday, March 16, but has been canceled. Temecula Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Laura Boss said the district would stop testing for football and water polo athletes when it is no longer a requirement.
Jurupa Valley Unified School District superintendent Elliott Duchon said testing of football players at the district’s three high schools will stop. Riverside Norte Vista athletic director Ron Main said the same is true for the Alvord Unified School District.
The Corona-Norco Unified School District would not require testing, spokeswoman Evita Tapia-Gonzalez said in an email Tuesday morning. However, the district will offer optional, but highly recommended, testing for its football and water polo athletes on a weekly basis free of charge in order to limit COVID-19 exposure on its campuses.
“Our athletes will continue to follow our strict health and safety protocols as outlined in our district’s safety plan,” Tapia-Gonzalez said in the email.
Riverside Unified School District assistant superintendent Timothy Walker said district officials would reach out to county health officials for further guidance before making any decisions on testing.
“We are not going to stop something just because we can,” Walker said. “Our focus will continue to be what is in the best interests of our students, our staff and our community.”
Moreno Valley Unified School District also will seek additional guidance from county health officials and continue testing athletes and coaches for the time being, spokeswoman Ahani Velasco said.
“It would be in our best interest ... as they are participating in high contact sports,” Velasco wrote in an email Tuesday.
According to the CDPH, testing would resume if a county’s adjusted case rate jumps above 7.0 in future weeks.