How D3 Virginia schools kept athletes safe
Playing a college sport is already difficult for student-athletes, with many people comparing it to a full-time job. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year, thousands of these American student-athletes had their lives on pause until the NCAA and conferences came up with ways to get students back safely into sports. Most Division III conferences decided to postpone fall sports until spring or cancel the season and wait until fall 2021 to continue. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) decided to postpone the 2020 football season until this spring. The ODAC is made up of nine Division III private and public schools, with eight located throughout Virginia.
To also reduce spread, the ODAC established strict Covid restrictions since last fall. ODAC football players in the offseason were required to fill out daily health forms which were checked by staff to ensure no one playing had symptoms. Also, during workouts like lifting, players and coaches must socially distance, wear masks at all times while indoors, carry cleaning bottles between stations, and also bring their own water. When full contact started in the spring, each player and staff member had to be tested three times a week on top of all the other rules. If athletes showed any symptoms they would be tested and if positive they must enter a 10-day quarantine at which point they will retest. If negative the player is forced to sit out for a 7-day period that is followed by a physical to ensure that they are fit to return. The ODAC also included that if someone is close contact, like a roommate of the infected person, they must go into a 14-day quarantine and will be tested at the end for Covid.
Playing in the spring was not the only thing different about this season the ODAC also shortened the schedule from a 10 game season to a four game in-conference season where the winners of each side played for the championship. This was meant to reduce the extra spread of Covid from team to team and to prevent spread from conference to conference.
To protect fans, the ODAC allowed up to 250 fans during games in February and was increased to 1000 in March and then to 3000 in April. I decided to go to the Hampden Sydney v Ferrum game on April 3, 2021, to see what other restrictions were in place to keep fans safe. The first thing I noticed when walking into the stadium was how spread out each group of people was. There were around 800 people, which from what I could tell is drastically different from the normal HSC environment. In comparison, in 2019 HSC averaged 6,949 fans per game, which were ranked first for average attendance in Division III football. Also, fans were required to wear masks inside the stadium when out of their seats and HSC offered hand sanitizing stations around the stadium seating.
This was my first live sporting event since 2019 and at no point did I feel like I was too close to anyone, and didn’t see anyone not wearing a mask. I am happy the ODAC was able to figure out a way to keep the season alive while keeping fans and players safe.
