College, youth sports await guidance from state on protocols

Less than a week before San Diego State plans to have football players return to campus and begin preparations for the 2020 season, the school still has not received approval from California State University Chancellor Timothy White.

And might not anytime soon.

After several delays, CSU officials now say they are “awaiting guidance” from Gov. Gavin Newsom before giving the green light to nine campuses that play NCAA Division I sports and submitted detailed athletic repopulation proposals. The problem: Newsom indicated earlier this week that the state has paused issuing new guidances amid the rise of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

“The reports that student-athletes in other states are testing positive does raise concern,” CSU spokesperson Michael Uhlenkamp said in an email, “as does the continued increase in the number of cases throughout the state. With the health and safety of student-athletes at the forefront, we are evaluating many, many different variables prior to reaching a decision about students returning. The guidance from the Governor’s Office will also factor into any decision-making.”

Uhlenkamp said the decision will not be systemwide but campus by campus based on regional coronavirus metrics. In that regard, SDSU appears to be more favorably positioned than, say, Fresno State given the recent spike in numbers in the Central Valley that prompted Fresno City College and other area JCs to suspend fall sports last week.

“Similar to the idea that what the fall semester on the SDSU campus looks like will differ from San Jose,” Uhlenkamp said, “there will likely be variation with regard to athletics.”

SDSU athletic department officials declined comment other than they are pressing forward with their July 7 target to bring back about 125 athletes on the football, basketball, volleyball and soccer teams.

The timeline isn’t as pressing for basketball, which typically has limited workouts during the second session of summer school (which begins July 7) and doesn’t start official preseason practice until the end of September. But for the five CSU campuses that play football, any significant delay could put them at a disadvantage with Sept. 5 openers looming. NCAA rules allow teams to conduct six hours per week of strength training and film review beginning July 13, 20 hours per week of walk-throughs and position meetings beginning July 24 and preseason camp in early August.

Players at UCLA and Cal have already returned to campus for voluntary summer workouts, as have players at most Mountain West schools.

Waiting for guidance from the state requires equal parts patience and perseverance, however, if the experience of youth sports is any indication.

“It’s causing tons of chaos and turmoil and confusion,” said Bob Turner, the president of Cal South soccer governing body for more than 130,000 youth players across Southern California. “I’m getting emails with pictures of softball tournaments last week and people saying, ‘How come we aren’t playing games, too?’ I’ve also got people who want to shut down the entire season right now for the rest of the year.”

For more than a month, San Diego County officials have been requesting a specific youth sports guidance from the state, similar to what neighboring Nevada did on June 10 – with separate protocols for soccer, baseball and softball outlining what is required versus recommended.

Newsom has released a detailed professional sports guidance that the San Diego Loyal, a second-division soccer team, and Major League Baseball’s Padres are following. But it requires extensive testing, something youth, high school and many college sports organizations don’t have the resources to execute on a regular basis.

The result: A mash of different approaches across the state, ranging from the prohibition of youth team sports completely in some counties to practices with athletes physically distanced at all times to scrimmaging with contact to photos emerging of a softball tournament with uniforms, umpires and parents lining the sideline last weekend in North County.

The first issue, though, is whether youth team sports are permissible at all.

“The state has not issued guidance for recreational team sports or youth sports at this time – so those activities are still not allowed,” a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health said in an email. “We do not have a specific timeline for issuing additional guidance for these other activities. As the Governor mentioned in his update (Monday), the state has paused issuing new guidance at this time given the recent increases in cases.”

Riverside County has followed that policy, even issuing a news release last Friday that specifically addressed youth sports “still” not being permitted within its boundaries.

It’s a different story south and west, though, where San Diego and Orange Counties let youth clubs return to practice earlier this month under the state’s “day camp” guidance in stable groups of up to 12 players. At the time, Supervisor Kristin Gaspar said “the protocol itself allows contact to take place” within those groups but not between them. County Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten has more recently clarified “there is no competition or playing with others.”

Asked if youth sports teams could practice as day camps, the CDPH spokesperson said: “The day camp guidance cannot be used for recreational team sports. As I mentioned previously, we have not issued guidance that would allow recreational team sports.”

Turner, the Cal South president, has been a proponent for bringing back youth sports without contact to, if nothing else, promote mental health among children. He estimates “90 percent” of Cal South’s clubs have complied with his organization’s no-contact guidelines but admits some have taken liberties. One coach, he said, had his team conduct an illegal scrimmage wearing the colors of another club in hopes of avoiding detection.

Kevin Granse, the recreation area manager for Carlsbad, has spent the last few weeks educating youth clubs renting his city’s facilities about refraining from games or contact drills in practice.

“I feel bad because I recognize the importance of getting these kids back out there,” Granse said in an email. “However, it is frustrating when I am requiring the leagues I am responsible for (to) jump through so many hoops to make sure they are in compliance … It is unfortunate that some individuals choose to do as they wish when other organizations are being responsible in their actions.”