Update: Jankowski learned after the filing of this story that the boys’ basketball team at Okemos High School has an outbreak of COVID-19.
Critics of the return to sports in Michigan voiced concerns that social distancing procedures wouldn’t be followed, whereas supporters felt athletes and spectators could handle it.
“I think we’ve done just about as good of a job as you can,” Okemos High School Athletic Director Brian Fuller said about Okemos’ handling of COVID-19 safety protocols.
Monday marked three weeks since the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the state of Michigan gave the all-clear to resume high school sports in Michigan while the state continues to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now that we’re approaching a month into the season, Fuller said athletes and members of the community have been taking the procedures seriously.
“I have to remind people [to put their mask on correctly] occasionally,” Fuller said, “but we haven’t had to stop any games because of mask-wearing.”
In addition to ensuring everyone at games are wearing their masks, all schools in Michigan were required to have some form of contract tracing procedures in place as well.
“All teams have been checking temperatures and screening for symptoms,” Fuller said. The MHSAA’s guidelines don’t specify screening protocols, but teams routinely check temperatures at arrival or require all visitors, including athletes and coaches, to fill out screening surveys.
The guidelines
The MHSAA’s guidelines also lay out a detailed plan for how to keep sports, especially contact sports, safe. For basketball, for example, masks are to be worn by competitors and coaches, as well as spectators, for the entire duration of the competition. Shared surfaces and equipment must be constantly sanitized, meaning any balls, chairs, and workout room equipment.
The MHSAA announced a new move Monday, imposing a rule that would hand any non-compliant athletes with a technical foul, with two leading to ejection from the competition.
The schools themselves can limit spectators more than the guidelines state. The MHSAA however, recommends a total of two spectators per athlete, which was a popular policy in the fall with football.
So far, Fuller has only canceled a handful of games, and he is optimistic that the schools can keep it that way.
Okemos and Haslett High Schools have multiple games in the coming days in various sports. Information on each game, date, and time can be found on each district’s website.