The return of high school sports in southeast Iowa feels like a big step back to normal following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early spring. While practice is underway and the first games are scheduled to begin June 15th, there will be some noticeable changes at the ballpark this summer for both spectators and participants. Mid-Prairie athletic director Tyler Hotz spoke this week with KCII sports about what people can expect to see when they come out to games this year, and some of the changes for athletes. “We are going to definitely recommend social distancing. We are still going to have our bleachers there for right now. However, we are encouraging fans to bring their own chairs. Concession stands will be closed. We are not requiring, but we are recommending face coverings and masks. You will see signage including recommendations on hand washing at both the baseball and softball facilities. All of our River Valley Conference games this year are going to be JV, then varsity starting at 5p.m. The reason for that this year is the demand that it puts on pitching arms, we don’t want anyone injured, secondly is to take stress off of transportation. Essentially what the CDC has said is that on a 77 passenger bus, we can fit 13 people. Our goal is to get through the season successfully. We want to finish the season. I know there is a range of what people believe and how severe they think the situation is. One thing we know though, is if our student athletes or our coaches come into contact with someone with COVID-19, most likely public health is going to say they have to quarantine for 14 days. If we don’t take the necessary steps to protect ourselves, that can easily turn out to be more and more kids and affect their safety and our season. This is a test. This is something they are going to be looking at for the fall. Iowa is one of the few states that have high school baseball and softball in the summer. So we are the only state doing this right now. It’s not just our state but the country is looking at us to see how this going to work in Iowa. If we do a good job with this it will help springboard into the fall.”
The Mid-Prairie baseball and softball teams start their season on Monday, June 15th by hosting Northeast Goose Lake.