Some school sports given go-ahead by Manchester school officials
Committee members approve low- and moderate-risk sports
Committee members approve low- and moderate-risk sports
Committee members approve low- and moderate-risk sports
For some student-athletes in Manchester, the season will go on despite COVID-19.
The school committee gave the OK Tuesday night for low- and moderate-risk sports to be played this fall.
Board members said their next meeting in two weeks comes a week before tryouts begin, and they hope health officials will have more information to consider.
A motion presented Tuesday night to approve all fall sports at the Division I level in Manchester quickly ran into opposition.
"I do have some concerns with volleyball, because it's indoors, and football, because they're (in) very (close) contact and people are face-to-face," said board member Kathleen Kelley Arnold.
The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association groups fall sports into three categories: low-, moderate- and high-risk sports. The school board thought that was a distinction with merit.
"I would like to offer a friendly amendment to approve the low-risk and moderate-risk sports and wait on the high-risk sports," said board member James Porter.
Members were told that current health recommendations are being followed as conditioning and other programs are underway.
"They are 6 feet social distancing," said Assistant Superintendent Amy Allen. "We do have field hockey, the intersquad play that is happening."
Other steps are also being taken to minimize exposure to COVID-19. Play will be done in small regional groups to minimize travel. In this case, the group consists of Central and Memorial high schools in Manchester, along with Bedford, Concord and Goffstown, with Hanover included for soccer.
Some members wanted to postpone any vote, but Allen said that would cause problems.
"I would caution against that, because we have to do some sort of scheduling with our partners in order to get this to work," she said.
That led to the board agreeing to give low- and moderate-risk sports the OK while deciding to wait two weeks on football and spirit in hopes of getting more information.
There was no decision made for West High School, which is in Division II. The board also has yet to decide whether fans can cheer on the teams.