Youth sports moving forward in OC despite pandemic

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - In Orange County the pandemic is not getting in the way of youth sports. 

“I knew I loved the sport, but never thought I’d miss it this much, the game, my friends, the coaches”.

Health officials in Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties released guidelines for youth sports with some limited participation.

No actual games or full practices are allowed but players can condition and train with their peers, as long as some criteria is met. 

1-  All players and coaches must maintain physical distancing of at least 6 feet.
 
2 - Stable cohort, which means a limited, non-changing number of people, like a class or a team. They can work out together, if they can distance.

So, 6 basketball players can stretch together out in the field or a baseball team can have a set number of players practice throwing and catching.

“It’s been annoying, having to sit at home a lot and we didn’t have school so there is nothing much to do,” said one young sports player. 

“It’s been life in coronavirus, nothing about it is easy. It’s been particularly difficult with youth sports, especially with children who might not be able to go into a classroom and learn, youth sports was an outlet for them,” said Anaheim Chief Communications officer Mike Lyster. 

The guidelines do cover recreational sports leagues and club sports, including schools. Most cities will request their leagues to resend their applications showing how they will abide with the new guidelines but many are allowing informal session already.

You can expect other counties, like San Bernardino, to follow along soon.