MHS Winter Sports Preview
The high school winter sports season is under way in Maine and, unlike a year ago, the state has given approval for every winter sport to compete.
But anybody hoping for a return to normalcy is in for a rude awakening. Precautions made necessary from the ongoing pandemic mean athletes and spectators alike will once more have to adhere to multiple safety measures.
“This will not be an easy winter season,” Messalonskee athletic director Chad Foye wrote in a recent letter to parents, “but it will be an improvement over last year when spectators were not permitted at games.”
Still, as Foye points in his letter, even the right to attend games is not a given. Indoor track, for example, has three venues for meets available this winter – Bowdoin College, University of Maine at Orono, and University of Southern Maine – and none of those facilities permits spectators.
On the other hand, Messalonskee is allowing spectators at its basketball games although to a limited number to meet safety guidelines. Each Messalonskee player is provided six passes to share with family and friends.
Messalonskee students, however, are allowed to attend games without passes as long as they show their student ID card. All spectators at Messalonskee games will be required to wear masks. Additional safety measures also will be in place – to see the details, see Foye’s attached letter.
“We do not take safety of athletes and the community lightly,” Foye wrote, “and these steps are being taken to help with that goal in mind.”
Foye also notes in his letter that pandemic safeguards vary among high schools around the state. Some, for example, will not permit spectators at events while others, like Messalonskee, have some degree of restrictions.
Given the dynamic nature of the pandemic, Messalonskee’s current safety guidelines could be modified, and the same is true for other high schools.
“These policies will in all likelihood change,” Foye wrote. “We are just not sure which direction that change will occur. And in some cases they will change quickly and with little notice.”
Please view Mr. Foyes’ letter regarding Winter Sports Covid Protocols – here.