SCHSL stresses following rules as schools return to sports workouts

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Following the rules was the major focus during a South Carolina High School League Zoom meeting and a later press conference discussing allowing student-athletes to return to conditioning from the coronavirus pandemic.

The hope was to stress to all involved with the effort to allow high school sports to return this fall to follow the guidelines given by the SCHSL to a tee if they hope for a return to normalcy.

"The biggest penalty we can possibly have is to not have an opportunity to do sports," SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton said when asked what would be the penalty for schools that don't follow the rules. "I don't think any membership would like that to happen. It's very critical that we begin Phase 1 by having everything in place.

"It's more about the care of the kids than getting any competitive advantage. We don't want to compromise the health of our athletes or our coaches than having a coach getting one more play in."

The SCHSL announced last week that high school student-athletes could return to conditioning workouts. However, it didn't give a specific date, instead choosing to leave that to the respective schools or the school districts.

The spring sports season was brought to a halt in the middle of March due to the outbreak and never resumed. Singleton believes sports can resume in fall, assuming the guidelines are followed.

"I hope that we pay attention to the safety measures that have been put in place by DHEC," Singleton said, "and that we pay attention to the measures that are put in place to prevent the spread of the virus even more. If we do those types of things, and we can make it from one phase to the next, I feel confident that we can have a fall sports season."

Dr. Christopher Mazoue, who spoke during the Zoom meeting, said the discipline that student-athletes must follow in normal training regimens could be sharpened at this time.

"This is another opportunity to instill a sense of discipline in our student-athletes in regards to the virus," Mazoue said. "If we show discipline in Phase 1 and prove to parents and society that it can be cone, hopefully we can get there. If we do not, we may not get the opportunity to move to Phase 2 and have sports this fall."

Singleton pointed out that the focus now is getting through Phase 1 to the next phase. Not much thought has been given to trying to start seasons on time or if spectators will be allowed.

We're trying to look at the best way to get our athletes back in a position to compete," he said. "We haven't even moved to think about what role spectators might play. Right now, we are just trying to get in a position for our student-athletes and coaches to compete again. We'll start thinking about the other things once we get this piece in place."

Phase 1 includes having 10 days of conditioning and workouts with intense social distancing and cleansing guidelines. If things go good, then the plan is to move on to allowing sports equipment to be involved.

Nine players and a coach are to gather as a group called a "pod" and work in one "facility," while maintaining the six fee of social distancing. Only one group can work at a facility, even if it is a football field in order to keep up the social distancing.

Once a group is finished working at one facility, all of the equipment is to be cleaned and disinfected.