Youth Sports Are Back!
Wednesday March 10, 2021
California Set to Reopen MLB Stadiums, Allow Limited Return of Fans
Enrique Medina for El Paisanno Media The reopening of stadiums will force fans to order food and other necessities right from their seat.
Enrique Medina Broadcast Director
enrique.medina4922@my.riohondo.edu
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t was announced Friday by California officials that the state will allow people to attend Major League Baseball stadiums again and other outdoor entertainment venues. Friday’s announcement came with the news that the reopening and new rules take into effect starting April 1. With the reopening, it allows the Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, and Los Angeles Dodgers to reopen their ballparks. Despite the huge announcement, the plan will only take into effect those living in California. In other words, only fans from California will be allowed to attend these stadiums. Teams have up to this point been notified to only sell tickets to those who live in the state. The reason being in an attempt to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and limit the mixing of people from other states who may potentially bring the virus with them. Amongst the plan to reopen, it is important to be reminded of the California colored-tiers which do take an effect on the reopening plan. The purple tier, the most limiting, followed along by the red, orange, and then yellow tier before normalcy. In the reopening plan announced Friday, those counties in the purple tier will only allow 100 @elpaimedia
people in stadium. The red tier will allow 20% capacity, followed by 33% capacity in the orange tier, and 67% in the yellow tier. A reopening plan set in the purple tier would only allow teams to sell tickets within the county regionally. Meanwhile, all other tiers allow for California MLB teams to sell tickets statewide. As for food/concessions, they will not be allowed in the purple tier, but limited in the others to only at spectator’s seats. Specific rules that teams may want to enforce, will be up to each team separately. As for concessions, the Oakland A’s already announced they will allow fans to order from their phones. This will be delivered into their seats. As for other teams as well, given the plan, no fans will be allowed to pay with cash. So, for those who may not have a debit card, they may make a purchase to use one for that game to order whatever they need. It was also announced that teams will only be allowing fans to go to games in small groups. Along with that, no tailgating will be allowed. The plan is set just in time for MLB Opening Day which is set to be April 1. Up to this point, only the A’s, Padres, and Angels announced they will have fans back for Opening Day. As for the Giants and Dodgers, both start the season away from California. They announced they will release plans in further detail at a later date.
@elpaisanonews
Luke Perez Reporter
luke.perez.2566@my.riohondo.edu
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arch 4, 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration settled a lawsuit from high school athletes across California which cleared outdoor and indoor sports to return. Even with new guidelines and rules, schools, players, and parents are happy that sports are back. Nicholas Gardinera, a senior high school football player from San Diego and his dad were the main plaintiffs in the lawsuit. It started when a judge in San Diego ruled against Newsom in favor of reopening high school sports and San Diego highschools got to start up again. Soon after, other lawsuits began to stack up and Newsom gave in. Their argument was simple: if college and the pros
are able to proceed with restrictions and new rules then so can high school sports. The new rules for student athletes include weekly testing and a negative result two days before their game. Once COVID-19 cases in the country start declining to seven out of 100,000, outdoor sports won’t have to test weekly. Indoor sports like volleyball and basketball will continue weekly testing until local case rates drop to less than one in 100,000. Other new rules are the ban of indoor team dinners and film studies, no sharing equipment, and coaches and players who aren’t competing must wear a mask. For the parents of the student athletes, only four members of the player’s family can attend a game. Family members will not be tested before
Student athletes at West Covina High School resume baseball practice as Covid-19 cases decline.
El Paisano
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Vol. 62 Issue 1
admittance but are to keep social distance during the game. For students, it is still unclear what the rules will be for them to attend their school’s games. Ultimately, it will be up to the school districts’ and state rules that will determine the rules for family, fans, and students who want to attend the games. As of right now, California is in the red tier for COVID-19. With high school sports making a comeback it’s only a matter of time till schools themselves reopen. With these new rules for high school athletes, there’s a possibility sports for middle schoolers and younger can start up again. Even though county public health departments could still enforce stricter rules and some counties have yet to agree with the new rules, this is a huge win for the youth of California.
Raymond Luna for El Paisano Media
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