Photo courtesy of Seguin Little League Facebook page
(Seguin) – Seguin Little League president Jason Harrison announced the decision of the organization’s board of directors to cancel the 2020 spring season Thursday in a post on the Seguin Little League Facebook page.
“It is with a heavy heart that we bring you this news,” Harrison wrote in his statement. “The board has had to make the tough decision to cancel the spring season. We took all the info provided by the Governor and guidelines from Little League International into account and feel that it is the best decision going forward.”
“We had to take into account all the guidelines and the safety of players and families to make our decision. At this time we feel that with all the things needing to be done, it would not be baseball/ softball as we know it,” Harrison said.
Little League International cancelled the World Series and regional tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic in late April, but they left to door open for local league play and All-Star competition up to the state level this summer.
Texas Governor Gregg Abbot’s re-opening guidelines for youth sports allowed for teams to begin practicing on May 31 with only parent or guardian present per child, and for competition to begin on June 15.
Among the protocols on extensive list of guidelines that Little League organizations would have to adhere to:
–Groups of no more than 10 people, and six feet of social distancing between spectators not in the same group.
–Providing notice to parents and guardians on the risk of participants coming in contact with people 65 or older 14 days after a game or practice.
–Training all staff on appropriate cleaning, disinfection, hand hygene, and respiratory etiquette.
–Screening all staff each day for COVID-19 warning signs, including cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, diarrhea, feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and known close contact with a person who is lab confirmed to have COVID-19
–Limit staff with underlying conditions from attending or staffing games
–Consistent with the actions taken by many employers across the state, consider having all staff wear cloth face coverings (over the nose or mouth). If available, staff should consider wearing non-medical grade face masks.
–Staff should mitigate environmental exposures by additional cleaning and disinfecting of symptomatic staff’s work area, common areas, and bathrooms. Staff should follow and supervise the Program Activity Plan and, if applicable, the Transportation Plan.
–Isolate staff and participants exhibiting new or worsening signs or symptoms of possible COVID-19 and contact the local health department.
–Staff helps the operator in identifying exposure risks (contact tracing).
–Each team is considered a cohort – outside of the sporting event, discourage mixing between cohorts.
Seguin Little League is offering families three options for registration fees: 1) Donate the fee to Little League, 2) Receive a $45 credit toward the next fall or spring season, 3) Receive a $40 refund paid by check.
SLL will post the dates to receive checks or credit vouchers, and to return equipment at the Little League fields on the organization’s Facebook page in the coming days.
Seguin Little League still plans to hold its BBQ plate pick up, but the date and location have yet to be finalized.