Pac-12 football: California schools get coronavirus guidance from the state, clearing a path to training camp

The Pac-12 cleared a significant hurdle Friday on the road to an on-time, full-throttle start to its amended college football season.

After waiting weeks for clarity, the four California schools finally received coronavirus health and safety guidance from the state — measures that are required in order for practice to start later this month and for games to begin in late September.

And the specifics, which allow for home games — albeit without fans — are manageable.

Local sign-off is required in each case: from Santa Clara County (Stanford), the City of Berkeley (Cal) and Los Angeles County (USC and UCLA).

But the expectation is that local guidance will track with, if not follow exactly, the state’s requirements.

Per the state guidelines:

“All decisions about following this guidance should be made in collaboration with local public health officials and other authorities.

“Implementation of this guidance should be tailored for each setting, including adequate consideration of programs operating at each institution and the needs of student-athletes and workers.

“Administrators should engage relevant stakeholders— including student-athletes, their families, staff and labor partners in the school community—to formulate and implement plans.”

In addition, the schools are awaiting specifics from the NCAA and the Pac-12’s medical advisory committee on return-to-play protocols that would standardize safety practices for all 12 teams.

That is expected next week, with training camp starting as early as Aug. 17 and the season set to begin Sept. 26.

In some instances, the Pac-12 protocols could be more stringent than those of the state.

The higher education guidance released Friday afternoon by the state is 34 pages long and includes a special section entitled “Specific Interim Guidance for Collegiate Athletics.”

Key provisions:

— “To help mitigate those risks, colleges who wish to resume competition should provide strong protections for their student athletes, including allowing them the choice to opt-out of the season without the risk of a scholarship being revoked, reduced or cancelled, or any other kind of retaliatory activity.”

(Pac-12 players involved in the #WeAreUnited movement are seeking scholarship protection. It had been guaranteed by the conference and is now backed up by the state of California for players at the four schools.)

— Face coverings “should be worn by players and others while on the side lines.”

— Each team must adopt “an institution specific ‘return to play’ safety plan.”

— The schools must provide “regular periodic COVID-19 testing of athletes and support staff … For example, teams could consider testing at least 25% of their team and staff population every week. PCR testing is the preferred method at this time.”

(The 25 percent figure is viewed as manageable, both in terms of cost and logistics.)

— “Consistent with requirements imposed by the (NCAA), athletes are not required to waive their legal rights regarding COVID-19 as a condition of athletics participation.”

(This is another important issue for the #WeAreUnited movement and tracks with Pac-12 policy.)

— “The institution of higher education adheres to the general guidance for institutions of higher education related to isolation and quarantine of individuals who test positive for COVID-19 and close contacts of those individuals.”

Competition (i.e., games) will be permitted if:

— Testing can be performed, and results received “within a 72 hour period in advance of competition.”

— “Athletics departments have considered how best to secure reasonable assurance that the same risks have been adequately considered and addressed by other teams. This includes consideration of how to share testing results and related safety assurances to opposing teams before the start of an event in a manner consistent with applicable health information and education privacy laws.”

(One reason the Pac-12 moved to a conference-only schedule is the ability to standardize procedures for both the host and visitor.)

— “Schools must have in place a mechanism for notifying other schools should an athlete from one team test positive within 48 hours after competition with another team.”

— “Athletics departments, in consultation with institutional leadership, must evaluate the availability of, and accessibility to, local contact tracing resources. Where the availability of local contact tracing resources is inadequate, schools must train on-site personnel or procure contact tracing resources. Staff who complete formal training in contact tracing can be an invaluable resource with respect to institutional risk-management efforts and resources.”

Here’s the link to the full guidance from the state with regard to higher education. The section on athletics begins on page 24.

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