There won’t be high school football in Rhode Island in fall

Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of RIDOH, listens as Janet L. Coit, director of RIDEM, answers a question from the press. Gov. Gina Raimondo concentrates on school sports during her daily coronavirus and school status update at Veterans Memorial Auditorium September 4, 2020. Pool photo by Sandor Bodo / The Providence Journal

Mike Lunney, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League in a screenshot from a conference call with reporters September 4, 2020, responding to new rules for Fall sports with restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Associated Press

There won’t be any high school football in Rhode Island this fall, but most other scholastic sports will be allowed to go on and there is the possibility that football will be played in the spring, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Friday.

Acknowledging that school sports are “vital,” the Democratic governor said at a news conference that this fall’s middle and high school sports season will be shorter than normal because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Any of us who played sports … know how important it is in the life of a child,” she said. “It’s about having a chance to have a mentor, who’s an adult, who’s a coach, seeing your friends, learning how to get up when you fall down, learning discipline, how to be a competitor, get some fresh air, be healthy.”

Practice will begin on Sept. 21, a week after the scheduled return of students to the classroom, and competition will begin in early October. The season will wrap up by Thanksgiving.

Football, because it is a close contact sport, and volleyball, because it is played indoors with a common ball, won’t be allowed, she said.

“That, I understand is a great disappointment to a lot of kids out there, but I don’t want you to lose hope,” she said.

Tennis and cross country can go on as normal, while soccer, field hockey and cheering will be played with modifications. Those modifications are still being formulated by state health officials and the Rhode Island Interscholastic League, the governing body of school sports in the state.

If the coronavirus is under adequate control, football and volleyball may be played in the spring. On the other hand, if there are virus outbreaks in the fall, sports could be scaled back.

Raimondo also reminded people not to hold large parties over the Labor Day weekend to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19. She reminded the state there was an uptick in cases after the July Fourth weekend. She singled out college students in particular, and said the state is keeping a close eye on bars and neighborhoods where college students are known to gather.

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LOW POSITIVE RATE

The state Department of Health on Friday reported 58 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus out of nearly 9,000 tests performed, a positive rate of lower than 1% for the second consecutive day.

“It’s another good news story,” Raimondo said.

The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Rhode Island has now dropped over the past two weeks, from 2.22% on Aug. 20 to 1.07% on Thursday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in Rhode Island over the past two weeks has gone down from 90.14 on Aug. 20 to 79.14 on Thursday, Johns Hopkins reported.

There were no new Rhode Island fatalities to report.

The number of people in the hospital with the disease remained at 76 as of Wednesday, the latest day for which the information was available, the same as the previous day. Eight of those patients were in intensive care.

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COURTHOUSES REOPENING

Two Rhode Island courthouses closed five months ago in response to the pandemic are scheduled to reopen next week, the state judiciary announced Friday.

The McGrath Judicial Complex in South Kingstown and the Murray Judicial Complex in Newport are expected to reopen on Tuesday with measures in place to limit overcrowding and allow for safe social distancing.

Verbal health screenings will take place at courthouse entrances and face coverings will be required. The number of scheduled hearings has been reduced to minimize foot traffic and entry will be limited to persons with direct involvement in a case.