With a successful and safe fall sports season completed, the Kingswood Oxford athletic department hopes to continue this positive trend for the winter sports season. However, with a new season also comes new restrictions and challenges for everybody.
The rules and regulations regarding COVID-19 for the winter season resemble almost exactly the fall sports season rules and regulations. Going into the winter season, coaches and players are required to maintain at least six feet of distance from one another and practice safety guidelines both in and outside of practice.
The biggest new rule for the winter season is the requirement of masks. “The major guideline to mention is the face mask policy,” Athletic Director Josh Balabauch said. “Student-athletes and coaches will be required to wear a mask for the entire practice.” During the fall season, all sports had the opportunity to be played outdoors, which allowed players to remove masks if they were properly distanced. However, winter sports lack the ability to be played outdoors, therefore requiring a mandatory mask mandate to be put in place, with the exception of swimming.
The inability for winter sports to be played outdoors has not only affected the rules of wearing masks, but also the spaces the school can utilize. “Since we are not able to spread teams out as much, we are forced to take up multiple courts/spaces for each team,” Mr. Balabauch said. This then creates a domino effect for the rest of the teams, resulting in some teams not being able to practice everyday.
Off-campus sports will also still have the ability to play this year as Kingswood Oxford has access to both a pool and a hockey rink. With no signs of either facilities shutting down, all off campus teams will have a promising season ahead of them. In the event that a facility were to shut down, Kingswood Oxford would make the fitness center and weight room available for those teams for dryland and off-ice training on campus.
A second change to the winter season is that to ensure safe social distancing during practices, each team will create smaller cohorts of players to practice together for contact tracing and social distancing purposes. For example, there would be five or six players to a hoop during a basketball practice to ensure that the players social distance and follow COVID-19 protocols.
To ensure athletes and coaches alike stay safe this season, Kingswood Oxford is going above and beyond the standard guidelines that have been posted to ensure everyone’s health and safety. “Coaches and the athletic department will be monitoring students and teams during practices to make sure that smaller cohorts continue and masks are worn,” Mr. Balabauch said. All equipment will be properly cleaned and sanitized after each practice, and wipes and cleaning products will be available for all workout equipment and school vans.
As of right now, no games have been scheduled for any teams on campus, but if athletes and coaches alike are able to follow the guidelines, that could change.
