High school sports stands will be sparsely filled once again this year as another wave of COVID-19 infections sweeps across the state, causing leaders of the Midland-Wachusett League to implement spectator policies for indoor sporting events.
Principals and athletic directors from schools in the league met Jan. 3 to discuss COVID-19 safety protocol for the remainder of the winter sports season. In a letter released later that day, the group announced that spectators at games will be restricted to parents and household members of players from each competing team. All others, including other students, are prohibited from attending athletic events, and all spectators must wear face masks.
Bromfield Athletic Director Dave Boisvert wrote in an email to the Press that the rules apply to all sports except indoor track, which currently excludes all spectators, and swimming and diving, which allows spectator rules to be set by individual facilities. The policy for these two sports will be reevaluated in coming weeks.
Boisvert said all athletes, with the exception of swimmers and divers, will wear masks while competing.
The Bromfield ski team, which combines athletes from Bromfield and North Middlesex Regional High School, competes as part of the Mass Bay West Ski League. Bromfield coach Ray McCarthy said that the league has not implemented any changes to its format or policies due to COVID-19.
The announcement of new policies comes as COVID-19 transmission in Massachusetts remains “high,” as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Monday, the state’s seven-day positivity rate was between 10 and 14.9 percent. The positivity rate in Worcester County was at 10.5 percent.
The letter says that by allowing students to perform in front of smaller audiences, the league is attempting to balance a “prudent approach to public safety” with the needs of students to experience “a range of healthy activities, including extracurricular clubs and sports.”
