By Taylor Phillips
Copy Editor
and Katie Mitchell
Executive Sports Editor
With the new school year underway, the Mira Costa administration has implemented new regulations to allow sports to come back to campus and practice with their teams.
On Sept. 22, principal Dr. Ben Dale and the Costa administration shared their plans to introduce sports back to campus though Dale’s Costa Connected Newsletter. In the newsletter, Dale stated that the school is ready to implement sports back onto campus and has created COVID-19 guidelines to ensure a safe and healthy return for students and coaches.
“We started planning when the County Guidelines for Youth Sports were released on Aug. 6,” Dale said. “Initially it was understanding the protocols and having informal conversations with coaches about their thoughts on returning. When we ramped up about two weeks later, we started having meetings with coaches and the District to start making plans. The protocols started with a blank piece of paper, and gradually grew as we got input from coaches, District, and the County.”
In the newsletter, Dale mentioned that four sports teams, football, baseball, softball, and girls and boys water polo would start practices on Sept. 29 to help implement the COVID-19 protocols. According to Dale, as of Sept. 22, 16 additional Costa sports teams had submitted plans to be approved, and once approved, the team and administration will discuss a start time for each respective team to return back to campus.
“We knew we wanted to release sports to open gradually and not all at once, and the MBUSD Board had initially asked us to only open sports on campus,” Dale said. “At that point it was a matter of which sports had submitted plans, and what facilities were available. So knowing we had Cooper Field, West Field, Osterhaus Field, Softball Field and the Pool…there you go: Baseball, Football, Softball, and Water Polo.”
Once a team has had their plans approved and has a date to start in-person practices on campus, each student-athlete will have to complete certain steps before they will be able to practice with their team. In order to be able to join their team, student-athletes must submit a physical form, an emergency card, a filled out participation waiver, and a negative COVID-19 test to the school. Once all the information has been processed by the school, the student-athlete will be cleared to participate in their team’s practices.
“Filling out the papers required was quite a hassle, and took quite a while,” junior water polo player Dylan Kirtcher said. “We had to get approved by a doctor, get a covid test, and so much more. In the end, it’s all worth it because we get to go back to in person practices. The requirements are very thorough and sufficient!”
After being cleared by the school, student-athletes must complete an online green screen test before they come to each practice. The green screen test asks student-athletes to answer questions regarding recent possible exposure to COVID-19. Once the green screen test has been filled out and the screen becomes green with a timestamp as to when the test was completed, student athletes will show their coaches in order to enter their designated practice area.
“I feel that our practices are very COVID safe,” junior baseball player David Chase said. “The coaches are following all protocols very closely to ensure parent and staff safety; and players are maintaining social distancing when possible as well as using face coverings at all times.”
Due to safety hazards regarding large gatherings, each sports team can only have groups of 12 athletes practicing in one designated area and each cohort is assigned a coach. Student athletes are only allowed to congregate with those in their cohort and those who intend on participating in more than one sport must pick which one they want to participate in because administration wants to reduce the amount of contact between athletes.
“When I first found out that I had to choose one sport, I felt relief in some ways because I could give my all into one sport instead of having to catch up and feeling like I might let my team down if I’m not ready for that season,” senior baseball and basketball player Teagan Disharoon said. “But once I officially made the decision to quit [basketball], I started thinking of the great memories with my teammates and also how much some of the coaches have helped me throughout high school, and then I began to feel sad that I couldn’t spend my last year of high school playing both sports I have loved since I was a baby.”
Each sports team has their own set of provided guidelines that are tailored to each team’s activities. For example, while water polo athletes are separated into two people per lane, football players are forced to acclimate to no-contact drills. At the same time, all athletes cannot share personal equipment and must sanitize their hands before entering and leaving their practice area. Every two weeks, two athletes chosen at random from different cohorts will be asked to take a COVID-19 test along with a coach every week, to prove that there is a safe environment. Additionally, two random athletes will be temperature checked daily by the athletic trainer.
“The coaches are strictly mindful of the protocols, because their first concern is to keep students safe,” Dale said. “They also want to make sure we can continue to open, so it takes everyone…coaches, athletes, families, trainers, and us administrators to do this the right way.”
Dale, Athletics Director Glenn Marx, and Assistant Principal Stephanie Hall will be reviewing practices to make sure all athletes are following the strict safety procedures. With this constantly changing virus, no one knows what the future will have in store when it comes to sports.
“I’m comfortable with the guidelines we created, but I’ll never allow myself to be comfortable with the situation,” Dale said. “I don’t want to relax or let my guard down as it relates to student safety and wellness. We have to remain vigilant and strict with our implementation for [our student athletes], our staff, and our community.”
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