CIAC Releases Guidelines for Local High School Sports to Return

There are a lot of parents and high school students who are wondering if sports will return this fall.

The CIAC, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, just released their guidelines for the return of High School sports for the upcoming fall season.

Of course, the guidelines are all contingent on the state's COVID-19 re-opening plan, plus each school district will still be responsible to make a determination of when it's safe to actually return to sports in their area.

Here's what CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini told gametimect.com:

Each individual district will assess what is best for them. The primary importance of this is to give schools the understanding of what they can expect returning to interscholastic athletics and activities’ programs and to provide information to superintendents, principals and athletic directors to help them prepare for the (fall) season that may begin while COVID limitations are still in place.

As of now, the Phase 2 opening of the state has been moved ahead a few days from June 20 to June 17, and that means it would open up outdoor gatherings for up to 50 people, which in turn, would allow summer baseball to be played. It would also allow High Schools to implement in-person conditioning three times a week for groups of 5-10 student athletes, however there would still be some restrictions according to Lungarini:

This does not permit full practices, nor does it permit fall or winter coaches to coach their players on outside teams. That is being done to address skill regression that has likely occurred (due to no activities being done for nearly three months).

Phase 3, which would begin after August 3, would allow indoor gatherings of up to 25 people, and no more than 50 people outdoors. It would also allow indoor facilities, including weight rooms to open.

Hygiene requirements include hand sanitizer use, no sharing of equipment and social distancing would all remain in place through all different phases.

Each individual school district will make their own decisions on health screenings, testing, and contact tracing.

These dates are all subject to the state's actual Phase 3 opening.

As of now, the start of all fall practice dates will remain the same, with August 17 for football and August 27 for all other sports, however if the COVID-19 crisis forces any changes, the CIAC will follow the particular guidelines set by the National Federation of High Schools.

Once again, CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini commented on these guidelines:

We appreciate that our kids are anxious to get out and re-engage with the sports they love and are passionate about, but it is our responsibility to help them re-engage in those sports in a safe manner.