What works outdoors might just work indoors as well. Two weeks after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a change to
youth sports guidelines that paved the way for outdoor sports, including high school football, the door was opened Thursday for a return to indoor sports, namely basketball, volleyball and wrestling.
A legal settlement with the state on Thursday removes major restrictions to the indoor contests, namely placing the sports in the most restrictive yellow tier. It allows all high school sports to reopen using similar restrictions and protocols as professional and collegiate sports. The settlement came in response to a lawsuit filed last month from two San Diego high school football players and their attorney Stephen C. Grebing and managing partners Wingert Grebing of San Diego.
"This will open things open for youth sports — high school and youth leagues — around the state to resume play," said
Scripps Ranch (San Diego) football coach Marlon Gardinera during a press conference. "And not just football, but indoor sports, too. So basketball, volleyball and wrestling athletes can have a season too."
Gardinera and his son were just two plaintiffs of several lawsuits filed up and down the state over the last several weeks. All included high school athletes and their parents, citing "there is no medical evidence that competing in team sports is safe for college and/or professional athletes but not high school athletes."
The settlement requires counties to reach the same threshold as football (under 14 COVID new COVID cases per 100,000) — as of Tuesday, 54 of the state's 58 counties met that standard — and testing is mandatory. The state will pick up testing costs in three sports, rugby, water polo and football, but indoor sport athletes will have other options. Grebing and the Let Them Play CA offered free options that still need to be ironed out.
Newsom wouldn't comment on the settlement, but state Secretary for Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly confirmed new guidelines would be released in the next few days. California Interscholastic Federation Executive Director Ron Nocetti said he would "reserve comment until we see the agreement."
Each county, as always, can OK or reject the new guidelines, even if the state accepts them.
“Indoors, (the requirements are) going to be pretty rigid,” Grebing said. “But they’re going to be allowed to play.”
A settlement that paves the way for basketball and other indoors sports in California was reached on Thursday.
File photo by Greg Jungferman
That's all a number of athletes and coaches wanted to hear, including 16-year San Francisco prep coach Randy Bessolo. He and
Miramonte (Orinda) boys basketball coach Chris Laviotis started the Bay Area Basketball Coaches Alliance three weeks after conferring with the Golden State High School Football Coaches Community, which led the charge to get outdoor sports off the ground two weeks ago.
"We just followed their model," Bessolo said.
That plus the monumental efforts of
Moorpark boys basketball coach Ryan Moore and continued laborious work of the Let Them Play Ca group, led by founder Brad Hensley, helped get the settlement done.
"This is a major win for the youth of California," Bessolo said. "Playing youth sports has been proven to be safe and the risks of not playing are far greater than playing."
In a letter delivered Wednesday to Newsom's office, Let Them Play CA basketball leaders stated, "Now is the time. COVID-19 cases are drastically falling across the state. Vaccinations are nearing 10 million. People are dining indoors. Kids are going back to the classroom. Now is the time."
Thursday's news brought a lot of joy around the state.
"I haven't seen this many bright faces and happy smiles in a long time,"
Dublin boys basketball coach Tom Costello said.
Said
Salesian College Preparatory (Richmond) coach Bill Mellis: "A month ago, I would have thought no way we're having a season. When outdoor sports were OK'd, there was a little light at the end of the tunnel, but I was still skeptical. Now? Today? Wow, things are moving so fast."
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) star center
Jalen Lewis, one of the top sophomores in the country, said "I'm definitely excited to put an O'Dowd jersey on again. Hopefully nothing unexpected happens for the next few weeks, because I was really hoping to at least play a little bit of my sophomore season."
