Chelsea Prescott and her CHS basketball teammates may be the first prep athletes to return to play. Emphasis on “may.” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
If Coupeville wants to play basketball this winter, Island County’s rate of positive COVID-19 cases needs to drop.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, working off direction from the office of Governor Jay Inslee, issued updated guidelines Tuesday for schools returning to competition on the athletic field.
In the release of the info, it was stressed that “the Governor’s office has informed the WIAA that these guidelines must be followed and neither schools nor community sports programs have the authority to implement more lenient policies.”
“These revised guidelines give greater flexibility to school administrators to offer education-based athletics and activities and meet the demand of their students and communities,” said the WIAA in a statement.
“Staff will continue to work with decision-makers to evaluate participation in sports deemed high-risk by reviewing all data and documentation available in hopes it may be appropriate to qualify them as moderate risk.”
The new guidelines divide sports into three tiers based on how many positive cases per 100,000 residents a county has, and the percentage of positive tests.
The tiers:
High Risk:
75+ positive cases per 100K in a 14-day period OR more than 5% positivity
Moderate Risk:
25-75 cases per 100K AND less than 5% positivity
Low Risk:
Less than 25 cases per 100K AND less than 5% positivity
As of Tuesday evening, the Washington State Health Department’s risk-assessment dashboard lists Island County at 36.5 cases per 100K, with 2.8% positivity.
In other words, we land squarely under moderate risk.
But, basketball, which is currently set to be the first sport back in action, with practice kicking off the final week of December, and games in January, requires counties to be in the low risk category to play actual games.
As of now, a high risk sport can only start playing games if a county is in the low risk tier for positive cases.
By contrast, low risk sports can begin competition even if a county is in the high risk tier.
Moderate risk sports match up with the moderate risk tier.
Confused yet?
How each sport Coupeville plays is currently classified:
High Risk:
Basketball
Cheer (with contact)
Football
Moderate Risk:
Baseball
Soccer
Softball
Volleyball
Low Risk:
Cheer (sideline/no contact)
Cross Country
Tennis
Track and field
Currently, the plan is for basketball to run from Dec. 28-Feb. 27, with volleyball, girls and boys soccer, football, cross country, and boys tennis going from Mar. 1-May 1.
Softball, girls tennis, baseball, and track would close out the school year from Apr. 26-June 26.
All sports will be allowed to play 70% of a normal season (so 14 games instead of 20 for basketball), and postseason play is still being determined.
The chance of other sports being moved ahead of basketball, if the numbers dictate such a move, would be a WIAA decision, and not a league or school one, said Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith.
To read the complete new WIAA guidelines for yourself, pop over to:
