MHSAA Return to Activity Update (June 15, 2020)

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Progressing from Acclimatization Towards Normal Team Activities

Recommended Steps:

1. Two week acclimatization period mandated by the MHSAA June 1^st communication
2. 2-4 weeks of small group activities.
   1. Maintain group sizes at the limits established by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
   2. Teams should maintain separation into defined workout groups during this time to limit the potential for spread among an entire team or position group in the case of asymptomatic carriers.
   3. Contact practices are discouraged.
   4. Sports specific drills can resume with an emphasis on cleaning shared equipment between individual uses if possible and between sessions of athletes at minimum.
   5. Balls can be used if cleaned between different athlete groups working out.
   6. Locker rooms and common team areas should not be used.
   7. Wear facemasks for any team meetings or activities not involving workouts.
3. 2-4 weeks of large scale (possibly whole team) activities.
   1. Teams can come back together and work in large groups or as a whole (if possible under group size restrictions from the state). Example:  football teams can divide into entire offensive or defensives units for non-contact drills.
   2. Equipment and facility cleaning should still be prioritized on a daily basis
   3. Hand hygiene and symptom monitoring should still be practiced.
   4. Competition between schools is still prohibited.
   5. Consider allowing locker room use in small groups
   6. Continue to wear facemasks for non-workout activities.
4. Fall Sports start with guidelines and recommendations to come at a future date

Best Practices

1. Split your teams into groups for working out, even if you can technically get all your athletes together for outdoor workouts. Make sure you do not put all of your players for a single position in one group.  Keep these groups through the first month of the summer at least and ideally through the entire summer.   Doing this limits the ability of an entire position group to get sick, and limits the potential for spreading the virus among the entire team.
2. Keep a log of which students worked out in each group each day. This will make it easier to go back and identify exposure for other athletes that are working out in the same group should someone become ill in their workout group.
3. Use a daily brief checklist to insure thoroughness of screening athletes daily.
4. Use temperature checks daily if possible and supplies available. Do not, however, neglect hand hygiene, cleaning and symptoms check if using a daily temperature log.

Return to play guidelines after COVID infection and standards for cleaning solutions are available on the COVID 19 section of the MHSAA website, along with other information which you may find helpful