COLUMBUS, Ohio — All Ohio sports teams will receive the green light to play this fall in a forthcoming executive order that will not allow spectators other than family members and those who are “very close” to student athletes, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday.
“It’s not going to be your typical Friday night football in Ohio,” he said. “But the young people are going to get to play.”
DeWine’s order, which is expected to be issued in the next 24 hours, will apply not only to high school and middle school sports under the jurisdiction of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, but to all sports teams in the state, he said.
DeWine said it is important for young people to be cheered on by their loved ones at their games. The order will allow family members to be in attendance at contests and gives schools flexibility to define which people who are considered “very close” to student athletes can attend games. DeWine said family of marching band members can also spectate.
Lt. Governor Jon Husted said the health department and the OHSAA will send site inspectors to contests to ensure compliance with the order. Failure to comply with the rules could result in forfeits of games or disqualifications from a season, he said.
The governor said he hopes the desire to have a season will motivate young people to act responsibly off the field to slow the spread of COVID-19. DeWine called on coaches to be leaders in motivating their students to take COVID-19 seriously.
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Dr. James Borchers, a sports medicine expert and a former OSU football player from ’89 – ’93, joined DeWine at a Tuesday afternoon briefing where DeWine made the announcement.
Borchers said it is harder for sports games to proceed safely in areas where there is significant community spread of the virus. He said he would feel more comfortable allowing his son to play contact sports if he lived in an area with relatively low spread of the virus.
DeWine acknowledged that allowing sports brings risk of COVID-19 spreading among athletes, but the risk must be balanced with the benefits of sports, he said.
“Just as going back to school in person does increase the risk of spread, we know that sports – particularly contact sports – they do as well,” he said. “The more spread there is in the community, the more spread there is going to be in the school and the higher risk there is going to be to the students and certainly to the athletes as well.”
However, DeWine said he has seen firsthand with his children and grandchildren the positive impact sports can play in young peoples’ lives.
“We all know the importance of sports,” he said. “Sports matters and makes a difference. Sports provides all the things that we know: Discipline, it brings order, structure in the lives of student athletes, and certainly it brings joy to those athletes and certainly to their families as well.”
The Ohio High School Athletic Association had announced that football teams would play a six-game regular season, beginning August 24 and running through September 28. All schools will be eligible for the playoffs, which are schedule to begin October 9. State championships are scheduled to end no later than Nov. 21.
Ohio schools that prefer to move their sports seasons to the spring have received the go-ahead from OHSAA to do so, DeWine noted, stressing the flexibility his order will give to school superintendents. Many urban school districts in Ohio that have announced plans to resume school in the spring with e-learning have already made the decision to postpone their sports seasons.
And the announcement about the school performing arts programs will come later this week, DeWine said.
