By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays school board heard a report Monday on winter sports guidelines, which will include pre-purchase of tickets for non-students and fewer seats available to allow for social distancing.
Seating capacity at the Hays High School gym will be at 50 percent to allow for social distancing, Superintendent Ron Wilson said. This will amount to about 750 fans.
Wilson said Hays has one of the smallest gyms in its league, so other schools are not having the same issues.
Tickets for all varsity events will be pre-sold through an online vendor. A link will be available on the HHS website.
Students will not need to pre-purchase tickets, and no limits will be placed on student attendance.
The gym will be divided into blocks, and spectators will be encouraged to remain in those blocks, Wilson said.
However, Wilson acknowledged keeping students from moving around in the gym will be challenging.
To promote air flow, doors to the gym will likely be opened. The school will be running its heaters, but the gym may be cold on some nights, Wilson said.
Concessions will be offered.
All fans will be asked to wear masks.
"It is not a situation we relish on policing people, especially adults on masks," Wilson said. "It puts administrators in tough spots. We hope our community and patrons understand it is not about us, it's about the kids and their ability to play the games."
As athletes finish competing, they will be asked to also put on masks.
"This is an indoor situation, so we really have to be a little more cautious," Wilson said.
What students do outside of the school day will continue to be important.
"We are going to encourage our kids to be smart about attending large group gatherings outside of school and on weekends and evenings and encourage mask wearing outside of school as well" Wilson said.
The district will continue to take precautions when they travel, including face masks worn on buses, one person to a seat until all seats are filled and photos taken so close contacts can be tracked.
The Hays City Shootout will be a reduced tournament.
The Bob Kuhn Wrestling Tourney will be one day only, either a dual tournament or limited team bracket tourney. The Prairie Jr. will be a one day only boys/girls tourney limited team bracket tourney.
Seventh-grade basketball games will be played at the Hays Recreations Center. Because of space issues, no visiting spectators will be allowed for these games.
HMS games will be live-streamed this year.
"I hope everyone understands that you all are doing everything possible to be as normal as possible for the kids, and there is just some things that we have to change," said Board President Mike Walker.
Hays High School Basketball/Wrestling/ Swimming COVID-19 Guidelines
Wrestling:
a. Bob Kuhn Tourney will be one day only, either a dual tournament or limited team bracket tourney.
b. The Prairie Jr. will be a one day only boys/girls tourney limited team bracket tourney.
c. Bus trips: Detailed seating charts, take a picture, stay in the same seat, wear face shields, one athlete to a seat until all seats are filled.
d. Practices- Break the team into pods/small groups for skill work, spread them out as much as possible. Rotate ½ of the team in the weight room and the other ½ in the Wrestling Room. Try to keep ninth, JV, varsity separated as much as possible. Be sure to take breaks every 7-9 minutes for at least a minute (water break, time out, etc.) to stay under the 10-minute continued contract threshold. Use the score clock and have the manager set/reset the clock for the 7-9 minutes so coaches don’t have to monitor. Wear masks when meeting as a group. Players need to bring a water bottle with their names. Masks in the locker rooms except when showering obviously.
e. During matches/tourneys/duals-When not wrestling or waiting to wrestle, wrestlers must wear a mask.
f. Encourage the kids to not attend anything in large groups outside their normal groups on weekends and evenings. Encourage to wear masks if unavoidable.
g. Face Shields-Need to be worn to guarantee no quarantine will take place regardless of proximity. Need to be worn in class. Between classes, they can be up if they are social distancing in the halls. They will also need to be worn on the bus to guarantee no quarantine.
h. Mats will be cleaned before and after practice.
i. Locker rooms will be sanitized daily.
Basketball:
a. Due to contracted teams dropping out due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Hays City Shootout will be a three-day round robin tourney with four teams: Hays, Hays-TMP, Hugoton, and Wichita Life Prep Academy. All games will be at the High School. Tickets will sold online up to 50 percent capacity.
b. Bus trips: Detailed seating charts, take a picture, stay in the same seat, wear face shields, one athlete to a seat until all seats are filled.
c. Practices- Break the team into pods/small groups and we need to spread them out into both gyms as much as possible. Try to keep ninth, JV, varsity separated as much as possible. Be sure to take breaks every 7-9 minutes for a minute (water break, time out, etc.). Use the score clock and have the manager. set/reset the clock for the 7-9 minutes so coaches don’t have to monitor. Wear masks when meeting as a group. Players need to bring a water bottle with their names. Masks in the locker rooms except when showering obviously.
d. Games-When not playing or waiting to play, watching previous game, players must wear a mask. Players on the bench need to wear masks. If they are coming out for a short period of time, don’t need to.
e. Encourage the kids to not attend anything in large groups outside their normal groups on weekends and evenings. Encourage to wear masks if unavoidable.
f. Face Shields-Need to be worn to guarantee no quarantine will take place regardless of proximity. Need to be worn in class. Between classes, they can be up if they are social distancing in the halls. They will also need to be worn on the bus to guarantee no quarantine.
g. Locker rooms will be sanitized daily.
Swimming:
a. The HHS home meets will look at limiting the number of swimmers or teams and fan attendance.
b. Bus trips: Detailed seating charts, take a picture, stay in the same seat, wear face shields, one athlete to a seat until all seats are filled.
c. Practices- Break the team into pods/small groups and we need to spread them out into both gyms as much as possible. Try to keep ninth, JV, Varsity separated as much as possible. Be sure to take breaks every 7-9 minutes for a minute (water break, time out, etc.). Use the score clock and have the manager set/reset the clock for the 7-9 minutes so coaches don’t have to monitor. Wear masks when meeting as a group. Players need to bring a water bottle with their names. Masks in the locker rooms except when showering obviously.
d. Swim Meets-When not swimming or waiting to swim, swimmers must wear a mask.
e. Encourage the kids to not attend anything in large groups outside their normal groups on weekends and evenings. Encourage to wear masks if unavoidable.
f. Face Shields-Need to be worn to guarantee no quarantine will take place regardless of proximity. Need to be worn in class. Between classes, they can be up if they are social distancing in the halls. They will also need to be worn on the bus to guarantee no quarantine.
g. We will follow the Hays Wellness Center policies in regards to Locker Room access.
Tickets to all varsity events will be pre-sold via Vanco Events on the Hays High School Web site. Restricting attendance for community at 55 percent of capacity. Students will not be restricted or required to pre-purchase tickets.
-Fans will be asked to wear masks at all times while in gym. They will be asked to sit in assigned sections only.
-Ventilation/airflow will be prioritized, so coats encouraged if attending.
Hays Middle School Basketball/Wrestling COVID-19 Guidelines
a. All spectators are required to wear a mask while inside the building of the event attended.
b. Home wrestling events will be held at HHS this year.
c. Eighth grade basketball home games are at HMS. As of now there are no number restrictions for fans. Just ask fans to social distance as much as possible.
d. Seventh grade basketball home games are held at the Hays Rec Center.
-No visiting team fans will be allowed.
-Only basketball players family members are allowed into the game.
-No HMS student will be allowed to the seventh grade games unless the student is a relative to one of the seventh grade players and must sit with family.
-Extra chairs will be set up on the south end of the gymnasium, please use social distancing as much as possible.
-Only players are allowed on the back side behind benches, along the east wall.
e. At this time HMS is scheduled to hold the WAC league wrestling tourney at HHS on Dec. 12. As of now, restrictions that have been put in place will be only varsity wrestlers and no JV wrestlers; other possible restrictions will be determined as we get closer to the date of the tourney.
Plans have been put in place to live stream the events for middle school for those who can’t make it to games or prefer to stay home for safety reasons.