THSLL Districts

North District News

Posted on January 25, 2021

Thank you to all the teams the responded to the THSLL survey regarding COVID-19. Many of our programs have established comprehensive and detailed COVID 19 plans, however, it remains unclear to some THSLL member programs what preparations have been made regarding COVID-19.  As indicated in our email dated December 23, all teams are required to submit a COVID-19 plan to THSLL. As a minimum, the league is requiring the following:

  1. Masks will be worn at all times by table personnel, trainer(s), coaches, fans, and the site administrator.
  2. Each program must have a screening process for players and coaches in place (ie. temperature checks, symptom questionnaires etc...)
  3. Fans will be required to social distance in the stands or on the side of the field that is designated for fan seating.  Site administrators will be responsible for monitoring this.
  4. Players will follow the more restrictive policy of two competing teams with respect to mask-wearing while playing on the field.  These policies should be exchanged between teams prior to competing. There is a strong possibility that some of our member programs, as required by school policy, will require wearing masks on the sidelines and the field for both teams, including away games. If this requirement is in place, our member programs will be required to comply accordingly
  5. Attendance limitations of the host school facility will be adhered to by both teams competing in any game.
  6. At no time- before, during or after a game, should fans be allowed on the field.  Fans should exit the playing facility immediately after the game ends and wait in their cars for their players.
  7. If a player, coach, or table personnel tests positive within 48 hours of the competition between teams, the program of the positive person is required to notify the opposing program and officials.  HIPPA regulations should be followed.  Additionally, the program with the positive player should notify other programs scheduled to play them within the next seven days.
  8. It is the responsibility of both teams to communicate their COVID-19 protection protocols (wearing masks, temperature checks, etc.) before games. We recommend this information be shared on a game-by-game basis as there is a strong possibility that these policies with change throughout the season. This communication should also include any policies that limit or prohibit fan attendance at your game site. Team COVID-19 policies are posted on team pages.
  9. Teams should review their schedules to ensure that district games are not concentrated towards the end of the regular season. To permit time to reschedule games in the event of cancellations, teams should leave adequate time on their schedule for this possibility.
  10. In the event of game cancellations or rescheduling, the completion of district games takes precedence over non-district games.
  11. The officials will comply with the requirements of the home institution.  However, all officials will bring and wear either a black neck gaiter or a facemask to the game and keep it on during the pre-game activities.  They will wear masks between periods or if speaking with someone up close, such as a member of the table staff; however, officials are not required to run with their neck gator up.  This complies with the NCAA guidelines to date. If a home institution requires more than this, the crew chief will confirm this with the home team’s head coach as part of the game confirmation process, which happens 24-48 hours before the scheduled start of the game

As a resource for reviewing or creating your plan, please see below the US Lacrosse "Return to Play" link along with the "UIL COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Guidelines:

https://www.uslacrosse.org/return-to-play
https://www.uiltexas.org/policy/covid-19/2020-2021-uil-covid-19-risk-mitigation-guidelines

Please also note that there are some good plans that have already been put together. You might ask around to see if you can “borrow” some established plans when putting your plan together. 

Given the unknowns moving forward, we ask teams to remain extremely flexible regarding cancellations and rescheduling of games. The normal start of the season, we hope, should give teams more time to work through any problems they encounter. If a team cannot host a home game due to field availability, perhaps offer your field as an away game to get the game in. These are not normal times, so we need to be resourceful to get through the season as best we can.

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