May 10th

What are sports going to look like for us next year? I work at a moderately large private Montessori school in the city of Chicago. We participate in several leagues and across several sports, which was difficult enough to manage even before Covid. We have offered cross-country, basketball, volleyball, and track and field in the past. I was looking to add coed flag football before the pandemic for our middle school as well. While my athletic director responsibilities are currently at a pause, next year is a different story. I will bring back as many sports as possible, based on demand.

 Cross Country will probably be more of a running club. I doubt that we will have any meets available. I will have to gauge interest with the parent body to see if they are comfortable with going to competitions or not. Since cross-country is outside, the Covid dangers are lessened due to UV light as well as particle disbursement, but we may still have to wear masks while we are running outdoors even for our practices.

 Basketball would have to be intramural only; we would not play any outside schools. This would allow us to do effective contact tracing. If we were to play other schools, it would be near impossible to contact trace accurately, especially if other schools are not willing to share information, or their contact tracing is poorly done. The only way I could foresee playing outside of our school is if we partnered with another school and only held athletic events with them.

We would have to practice by pod or classroom, not by team. That means we would have practices held with mixed age and mixed gender, which is dramatically different from how we have practiced in the past. Traditionally we have had enough students to field a boy’s team and a girl’s team from 4th through 8th grade. This would dramatically change the landscape of how practices would be run. Again, this would be done for the sake of contact tracing.

 For our volleyball season, traditionally we fielded one boy’s team and two girl’s teams, and they all practiced together. However, if we have to have to practice by pod, each pod practice would only have several kids, which is not enough for an adequate practice. I do not know if the enrollment will be high enough to maintain volleyball. If we do have enough students, it may be feasible to scrimmage another school exclusively (as we have done in the past) if they agree not to scrimmage any other schools (for contact tracing). Again, there are a lot of what-ifs in this scenario, so our volleyball season may still be compromised.

 Track and field will be very similar to cross-country. I have already heard that some of the leagues that we participate in will not host meets traditionally held in the past. This makes me think that even if we wanted to compete outside of school, if may not be possible if our different league options are not holding any meets.

May 12th  (Pfizer vaccine approved for ages 12-15)

Cross Country may actually resume pretty similarly to how it has operated in the past. We have participated in some fun runs associated with the Chicago Running Club, and with the availability of the vaccine, maybe they will resume their runs with masks for ages 12 and up. We will see if any of the other leagues will have limited participation available. An even bigger question is if the Chicago Running Club will demand a covid vaccine for participation. This would mean my students younger than 12 might not be able to participate in the weekend runs. Since cross-country is outside, the Covid dangers are lessened, but we may still have to wear masks while we are running outdoors.

 Basketball would be intramural only for students younger than 12, but now there might be the possibility of league play for students 12 and older. I am assuming that the league may demand vaccines to play. If we resume league play, I imagine that games would consist of players, coaches, and refs only. No parents or spectators. Athletes younger than 12 would have to practice by pod, but athletes 12 and older could practice with their respective age and gender if they have the vaccine. For 12 and under, we would have practices held with mixed age and mixed gender for under 12, which is dramatically different from how we have practiced in the past. Usually we had enough students to field a boy’s team and a girl’s team for 4th through 8th grade. With this initiative, now we would be practicing by classroom instead. Again, this would be done for the sake of contact tracing. I might be able to use other adults for coaching as long as they have been vaccinated and wear a mask.

 For our volleyball season, we normally practiced and only played one other school. If we have the same number of students we have had enroll in the past, it may be feasible to scrimmage the other and look into joining other leagues for play for our students 12 and older. Again, there are a lot of what-ifs in this scenario, so our volleyball season may still be compromised.

 Track and field will be very similar to cross-country. I have already heard that some of the leagues that we participate in will not host meets that they have done in the past. This makes me think that even if we wanted to compete outside of school our options are probably going to be limited because there may only be a couple meets available.

 May 14th (Vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks)

Basketball would be intramural only for students younger than 12, but now there might be the possibility of league play for students 12 and older. I am assuming that the league may demand vaccines to play. If we resume league play, I imagine that games would still be players, coaches, and refs only We might be able to allow parents who are vaccinated to attend, but we may have to start with a lower attendance policy. However, do we ask for proof of vaccination, or take their word? Even with this new information, we may opt out of live attendance by parents, but offer some type of video feed. This situation also applies to volleyball. This situation has definitely become trickier.

Since cross country and track are held outdoors, they may have parent attendance now, but I don’t yet.

As you can see, there is still a lot figure out for next year, and if you are an athletic director or coach, I bet your head was swimming this week as well. For the school, and me, the biggest question will be if we allow intermural play, and would require the vaccination of the child. There is precedence for schools requiring vaccines for school admittance, but not for optional after school activity.

As our school plans become more finalized, I will update you with what we decide, which I hope will be helpful especially for the adults who do not have professional colleagues to rely on for guidance. Ultimately, each school will need to decide what they are going to do for themselves, but hopefully seeing my thought process might reassure you with your own as we move into the 2021-22 athletic year.