By CT McDonald
Some Lexington Five fall sports teams are already active, while others are being phased into the season a week at-a-time.
As reported last week, the Class 4A Irmo High teams are starting their seasons in their turn, and so it is with the Lexington Five 5A teams, Dutch Fork and Chapin.
Both Dutch Fork and Chapin will be competing in Region 5-5A again this year along with Lexington, River Bluff and White Knoll. With some of the teams’ schedules somewhat abbreviated, emphasis will be on playing the region games when necessary in order to determine qualifiers for the playoffs.
Girls tennis, girls golf and swim teams were allowed to start the regular season this week, according to the South Carolina High School League’s (SCHSL) sports calendar, and volleyball and cross country teams are to get started next week.
Also next week, football and competitive cheer teams may start practices, and football games will start on September 25.
With the start of the new season there are requirements and guidelines that must be followed by the schools, coaching staff and teams, and there are also requirements for allowing spectators at the games.
The SCHSL applied for, and was granted, a waiver for some of the spectator rules, such as the number of people allowed in the venue at one time. Some high school venues can accommodate more people safely than is allowed by the South Carolina governors’ order pertaining to spectator sports, concert venues, etc.
Fans will be affected by the spectator requirements in various ways in order to maintain an ongoing high school sports season, including whether or not to actually attend an event.
According to the SCHSL Spectator/Facility Requirements For Venue Use document, those are:
• All staff, spectators and other auxiliary groups should stay home if they have a fever or feel sick.
• All staff, spectators and other auxiliary groups must quarantine and stay home if they have tested positive for COVID-19 or are showing COVID-19 symptoms.
• All staff, spectators and other auxiliary groups must quarantine and stay home and monitor their health if they have had close contact with a person who has symptoms of COVID-19 within the past 14 days.
SCHSL Commissioner Jerome Singleton has emphasized each member school will be responsible for putting its virus related requirements in place and enforcing them because each school has its own unique sports venues, campus layout and other variables.
With close attention to the requirements, the 2020-2021 high school sports season is now actually under way. Let’s keep it going.
