By Erin Petenko/VTDigger
School and youth leagues will be able to resume competitions Feb. 12, state officials said at a press conference Friday, Feb. 5.
The games will have some restrictions, such as limiting the teams to two games a week and forcing competitions to be spaced three days apart, said Julie Moore, head of the Agency of Natural Resources. Parents will not be able to attend games, and any referees or observers must follow a mask order.
“We recognize that this will come as a disappointment to parents and fans of local teams, but minimizing the number of people present is essential to appropriately managing the risk associated with indoor sports events,” Moore said.
Officials said their decision was based on contact tracing data from the current reopening phase of school sports, which allows indoor practices, Moore said.
“Over the past two and a half weeks, while there have been close contacts identified within teams, we have not seen evidence of teammates transmitting the virus to one another,” she said.
Some health experts have raised concerns about a fuller reopening of sports because of the nature of their close contact and physical exertion.
Gov. Phil Scott used the reopening news Friday to remind Vermonters to be careful to follow social distancing guidance, particularly on Super Bowl Sunday. He said to parents, “Don’t ruin it for your kids.”
