Here's How NJ Can Start Playing Sports Again Amid The Coronavirus

NEW JERSEY – Stay home if you're sick. And whatever you do, don't share a water bottle.

The New Jersey Department of Health has a long list of rules for children and adults alike to resume organized sports on Monday. Just don't expect it to work like a typical opening day.

Indeed, most sports won't even be able to resume competitions on Monday, but they will soon be able to do so since New Jersey's coronavirus numbers continue to sharply decline compared to other states.

Indeed, on Sunday, New Jersey announced 411 new coronavirus cases and 17 more deaths. Both are sharp reductions from two months ago, when the Garden State's daily new case totals routinely exceeded 3,000. Read more: NJ Coronavirus, Reopen Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

The state's guidance permits practices and competitions for low-risk sports (golf, tennis) that do not involve contact, and modified no-contact practices for medium-risk (soccer, baseball, softball) and high-risk (football) sports to resume on Monday (see the list of rules below).

Traditional practices and competitions for medium-risk sports are expected to be allowed as of July 6, and on July 20 for high-risk sports. As of now, only outdoor activities will be permitted.

“Sports provide an opportunity for healthy exercise and skill building," state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. “said This guidance will enable these activities to resume while protecting the players, coaches and staff – and the larger community – from the spread of COVID-19.”

Each sports program is required to develop a preparation plan that includes social distancing, staggered schedules, screening, equipment cleaning/sanitation, and face covering protocols, among other measures. Practices and games must follow outdoor gathering limits including athletes, staff and any visitors or spectators.

Here is the schedule of sports that can resume, and when:

Here is what you have to do:

Preparing a Sports Program for Practices

Each sports program must:

• Identify adult staff members or volunteers to help remind coaches, players and staff of social distancing. Use of signs, tapes or physical barriers can be used to assist with guiding social distancing requirements.
• Within the program, consider creating consistent groups of the same staff, volunteers, and athletes and avoid mixing between groups.
• Participants shall remain 6 feet apart from one another whenever impossible. This applies to athletes, coaching staff, parents/guardians and other spectators.
• Coaching staff and parents/guardians should wear cloth face coverings.
• Athletes are also encouraged to wear cloth or disposable face coverings when not engaging in vigorous activity, such as when sitting on the bench, when interacting with an athletic trainer, etc.
• Face coverings should not be worn by staff or athletes when engaging in high intensity aerobic or anaerobic workouts or while in the water, or where doing so would inhibit the individual’s health.
• Create staggered schedules to limit contact between groups and/or players.
• All staff should be educated on COVID-19 health and safety protocols prior to the resumption of athletic activities.
• Educate athletes and coaching staff about when they should stay home and when they can return to activity.
• Actively encourage sick staff, families and players to stay home.
• Develop policies that encourage sick employees to stay at home without fear of reprisal, and ensure employees are aware of these policies.
• Participants, including coaches, players and families, should stay home if they have tested positive for or are showing COVID-19 symptoms.
• Participants, including coaches, players and families, who have recently had a close contact with a person with COVID-19 should also stay home and monitor their health.
• Immediately separate coaches, staff, officials and athletes with COVID-19 symptoms at any sports activity. Participants who have had close contact with a person who has symptoms should be separated and sent home as well and follow CDC guidance for community-related exposure.
• Establish procedures for safely transporting anyone who is sick to their home or to a health care facility.
• All athletes, coaches and staff should bring their own water and drinks to practice activities.
• Team water coolers for sharing through disposable cups should not be permitted.
• Encourage athletes to use their own equipment to the extent possible.
• Discourage sharing of equipment as much as possible.
• If equipment is shared, coaching staff should be aware of the sanitation procedures for team equipment (balls, bats, etc.) and sufficient disinfecting wipes or similar products should be made available.
• Consult CDC guidance for cleaning and disinfection.
• Discourage use of locker rooms or facility showers. If facility showers need to be used, only allow shower and locker room use if there are partitions or signage in place to ensure that athletes maintain proper physical distancing of 6 feet.

Preparing a Facility for Sports Practices

Each facility that will be used for practices should ensure:

• Signage is posted in highly visible locations with reminders regarding social distancing protocols, face covering requirements and good hygiene practices (e.g., hand hygiene, covering coughs).
• Crowding is reduced and proper social distancing is established around entrances, exits, and other high-traffic areas of the facility.
• Routine and frequent sanitization and disinfecting, particularly of high-touch surfaces in accordance with CDC recommendations, is practiced.
• Occupancy is limited in restrooms that remain open to avoid overcrowding, maintain social distancing through signage and, where practicable, utilize attendants to monitor capacity.
• Hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, soap and water, or other sanitizing materials is made readily available at entrances, exits, benches, dugouts, and any other area prone to gathering or high traffic.
• On any given field or space, there must be sufficient space between designated groups to prevent any interaction between the groups.

Conducting sports practices

• Coaches, staff, visitors and athletes will be required to abide by the gatherings limitations in effect at the time of competition.
• Athletes, coaches, staff and others participating in practice sessions must be screened, via temperature check and health questionnaire, at the beginning of each session.
• Players, coaches, staff, and volunteers showing symptoms of COVID-19 shall not be permitted to participate.
• If any participant develops symptoms of COVID-19 during the activity, they should promptly inform organizers and must be removed from the activity and instructed to return home.
• Practice activities must be limited to those that do not involve person-to-person contact between athletes and/or coaching staff. For example, focus on individual skill-building activities.
• Organizers must ensure that athletes and coaches adhere to social distancing while not actively involved in practice activities (on the bench, in the dugout, etc.). Consider assigning coaching staff to monitor sideline social distancing.
• If any equipment is provided by the operator, operators must minimize equipment sharing and clean and disinfect shared equipment at the end of a practice session.
• Do not permit athletes to share food, beverages, water bottles, towels, pinnies, gloves, helmets or any other equipment or materials that is involved in direct bodily contact.
• Organizers should divide larger teams into smaller groups and stagger practices at different times or across different days.
• Organizers must limit any nonessential visitors, spectators, staff, volunteers, vendors, members of the media and activities involving external groups or organizations as much as possible.
• Visitors and spectators should wear face coverings at all times, unless doing so would inhibit the visitor's or spectator's health or they are under the age of 2.
• Operators are encouraged to mark off spectator/chaperone viewing sites to allow for social distancing. Visitors showing symptoms of COVID-19 shall not be permitted to attend.
• Organizers must restrict spitting, handshakes, high-fives, team huddles, and any other close-contacting activities.

Preparing for games and tournaments

Competitions, tournaments and other activities or events that involve interaction between athletes from the same team or between teams carry significant risks, the state says. If participating in or organizing a competition:

• Coaches, staff, visitors and athletes will be required to abide by the gatherings limitations in effect at the time of competition. It is anticipated that the permissible number will increase to 250 on June 22 and 500 people on July 3 if the downward trends in the state’s COVID-19 outbreak continues.
• Concession stands should meet the requirements for outdoor dining.
• Consider social distancing requirements when scheduling contests and events.
• Social distancing will need to be maintained on buses/vans. Thus, multiple buses/vans and/or parent/guardian transportation will likely be required.
• Games should be scheduled at intervals that allow for proper sanitation of facilities and equipment following each game.