District opens fields, grapples with PWHS athletic rules

The Port Washington-Saukville School District will open its fields to youth baseball players this week as it continues to grapple with the complex questions of how and when to allow high school athletes to practice this summer while protecting them from the coronavirus. 

Members of the School Board’s Building and Grounds Committee on Monday endorsed the decision to allow Port Washington Youth Baseball and Softball to use fields at the middle and high schools, saying they were impressed with the organization’s safety rules. Those rules include everything from prohibitions on gum chewing and spitting to limits on the number of people in dugouts and requirements that balls and other equipment be sanitized between innings. 

“They (club officials) have gone to far reaches to say we’re going to police this so kids have safe outdoor recreation opportunities,” Director of Business Services Jim Froemming said. 

The School District’s indoor and outdoor facilities had been closed under Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction rules until June 30. Youth baseball players were free to take the field beginning July 1.

“I think this is a great opportunity for our students to get outside and do something fun,” school board member Brian McCutcheon, who is chairman of the committee, said. 

The district’s decision pertains specifically to Port Washington Youth Baseball and Softball. Other organizations that want to use school fields will first have to submit safety plans for district approval. 

The City of Port Washington opened its baseball fields last week in response to an appeal from the baseball organization.

The decision to allow youth baseball players to take the field begged questions about how and when high school athletes will be allowed to practice in preparation for fall sports.

“That’s still very much up in the air,” Froemming said. 

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association released summer practice guidelines late last month, but aside from making it clear that it is up to individual school districts to decide if, how and when practices will be held, the recommendations did little to simplify a complex process, administrators said.

“The WIAA guidelines are confusing at best,” Supt. Michael Weber said. 

The recommendations cover everything from the wearing of masks to social distancing and sanitization and vary depending on the Covid-19 risk in the community and the degree of physical contact inherent to each sport. 

For instance, if the risk of Covid-19 infection in the community is high, practice for contact sports such as football should consist of little more than conditioning. Physical contact, passing balls and even the snap from the center to the quarterback should be prohibited under such circumstances, according to the WIAA guidelines. 

But when the risk of infection is moderate to low, as it is expected to be this month, teams can practice drills as long as shared equipment and personal gear is sanitized regularly, the recommendations state.

With the goal of high school teams taking advantage of the five no-contact practice days they are allowed in July, Port Washington High School Athletic Director Nate Hinze has drafted general guidelines for coaches who have been asked to develop specific practice plans, Weber said. 

Those plans will be reviewed by administrators and the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department. 

“What we need to do is make sure the health department is comfortable with what we plan to do, and they may have some very good suggestions for safety measures that we overlooked,” Weber said. “The question we have to answer is how can practices be held safely in July and what will they look like.”

Weber said the district’s goal is to have practice plans in place and communicate them to players and parents during the second week of July. 

At the same time, Hinze is working with other conference teams to develop a fairly standardized set of Covid-19 rules for competition. That presents an added challenge this fall because for the first time Port High teams will be playing in two conferences — the North Shore Conference for all sports except football, which this year joins the East Central Conference. 

Weber pointed out that school districts aren’t the only ones grappling with how to play sports safely during a pandemic.

“Professional sports are struggling with the same questions we are,” he said. “In some ways, professional sports are probably going to drive some of the decisions at the local level.”