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THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020
NSAA from Page D4
Rice said.
“Before an athlete enters a locker room af- ter practice, we’ll have spray guns and Lysol and different things available that they will have to sanitize their equipment before they go back in the lock- er room,” North Platte football coach Todd Rice said. The NSAA guide- lines state that games can be canceled due to COVID-19 related is- sues, and that game won’t count as a win or a loss. If a player does come down with COVID-19, schools are instructed to contact their County Health Department regarding a proper course of action. At North Platte High School, athletes have to have their temperature checked before they can go to practice or en- ter the weight room,
A high enough tem- perature means that the player will be sent home. Rice also said players will be given COVID screening questions as well so the school can monitor the situa- tion with their athletes. Players will be given masks to use during practice. Lynes said players can wear masks or vi- sors if they choose to. “From day to day, anything can change,” Lynes said. “From Monday to Thursday, there can be a lot of change if somebody has a COVID case come up. ... I think it’s just being flexible and understanding that ev- erybody is in the same boat. We got to keep to- gether and try to do this thing together.”
upcoming fall season creeps closer. “It’s something dif- ferent,” Cudney said in the video. “It’s not convenient or normal by any means, but we want to take as many steps as we can to help protect our ath- letes and also protect our teams from get- ting shut down this fall.” A big takeaway from the guidelines is each school can determine if it will participate in the season. It will be up to the home team to provide oversight and make sure the facilities follow guidelines set in place by local health departments. The NSAA guide- lines state that the home team needs to ensure a safe envi- ronment not only for themselves, but for op- posing teams, officials and fans as well. Brendan Lynes, ac- tivities director for St. Patrick’s High School, said when it comes to football and the way their stadi- um is set up, it’s easy to follow these guide- lines for games. “We’re kind of pret- ty lucky there where we have a concession
Telegraph file photo For North Platte high school volleyball teams , new NSAA guidelines will mean continuously sanitizing the volleyballs and nightly washing of player pads.
players are encour- aged to wash their pads every night.
tain social distancing. The most difficult part might be keeping equipment clean. Both schools have many standards when it comes to the use of the equipment. Athletes have to san- itize hands before entering a weight or training room, and they have to wipe down equipment after they have used it. Volleyballs will need to be continu- ously switched out and sanitized during games, and football
stand in our school and a concession stand un- derneath our press box,” he said. “So our concession stands will still be separated, so that should be OK. And there are bathrooms on either side too, so we don’t have to intermin- gle.” Volleyball will take a little more work because it is in- doors, Lynes said. St. Patrick’s will be looking into ways to stagger how the play- ers come out of the locker room and main-
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