Jessica Cejnar / Wednesday, March 10, 2021 @ 2:53 p.m. / Community, Education
'We Got Kids Playing Again'; Sports Resume at Middle Schools, DNHS with COVID-19 Restrictions
Del Norte High recently concluded its boys tennis season and is gearing up its girls season. Photo courtesy of
Del Norte High is preparing for its first football game of the season — a scrimmage against the Fortuna Huskies — on March 19.
Getting ready requires COVID-19 testing once a week before a game, Dean of Students Bob Hadfield told parents Wednesday. Players on the sidelines, coaches and spectators must wear a mask. And attendees will be limited to four members of each player’s household, he said.
There will be no concessions. No food and drink will be allowed in the stadium. Though there will be cheerleaders on the sidelines, there will be no halftime show. Spectators will also be required to leave once a game is concluded, according to Hadfield.
“The idea is we got kids playing again,” he said. “It’s not so much that everybody gets to come watch them, but that they get to play and we have to adhere to these guidelines.”
At a Del Norte Unified School District webinar, Hadfield and Crescent Elk Middle School Principal Page Swan spoke with Superintendent Jeff Harris about what students, parents and the community can expect in the way of sports during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Harris, the district is using recent California Department of Public Health and California Interscholastic Federation guidelines, which came out as recently as last week.
According to Hadfield, the Humboldt-Del Norte League set parameters on who can attend a game and how many based on those CIF guidelines.
Del Norte High School is currently offering football, boys and girls soccer, boys golf and girls tennis, Hadfield said. Though indoor sports is not yet authorized, the Humboldt-Del Norte League hopes to approve volleyball by March 15. That decision is expected to be made Friday, Hadfield said.
The high school also hopes the league will approve the start of baseball, softball and track for April 5, Hadfield said. Start dates for basketball and wrestling have yet to be determined.
DNHS recently completed its cross country, boys tennis and girls golf seasons, Hadfield said.
At the middle school level, which includes Crescent Elk, Redwood, Smith River and Mountain schools, track is expected to start April 12 with soccer starting May 10, Swan said. All students in grades 6 through 8 are welcome to participate, he said.
“We encourage 6th-graders to get involved in track,” Swan said. “It gets them that early start so when they come in as a 7th-grader they know what field events they want to participate in.”
Sports at the middle school level will follow the same protocol as the high school when it comes to spectators, according to Swan. Up to four members of a players’ immediate household may attend. They will be grouped together and will be required to keep a 6 foot distance from another household group, he said.
“With track, we’re in large open areas,” Swan said. “We’ll get creative inside the field itself with spacing people.”
As for football, according to Hadfield, athletes are required to test for COVID-19 once a week prior to competing with another team if Del Norte County has an adjusted case rate above seven. Athletes participating in indoor sports also have to test, but none are being offered currently, Hadfield said.
Meanwhile, under CDPH guidelines, while masks are required for students on the sidelines of any game, they’re not required for those that are involved in “heavy physical exertion,” Hadfield said.
“If you’re out there playing, you don’t have to have a mask on,” he said. “If you’re on the sidelines and the coaches are talking to you, you need to have a mask on. All coaches need to have a mask on.”
An athlete can choose to wear a mask while playing, especially if the sport is less strenuous, Hadfield said.
Academic eligibility still applies to athletics, Hadfield said. Under CIF guidelines, a student must have a 2.0 grade-point average at the end of the previous grading period to participate. The high school did waive the rule that states students with more than one F during a grading period couldn’t participate in athletics.
Nearly a year after the pandemic began, one other aspect is different. Students will have to choose one sport to participate in, Hadfield said. Previously they could participate in multiple sports. A special emphasis has been placed on spring sports, he said.
“Those sports were cut last year,” Hadfield said. “They didn’t have a chance to play at all.”
For more information about DNUSD middle school and high school athletics, click here.
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