Linn-Mar Announces Summer Sports Plan
The Linn-Mar Community School District, in conjunction with guidance from the Department of Education, Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU), and the Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC), have come up with a plan for Summer Sports 2020.
As a member of the Mississippi Valley Conference, Linn-Mar will be playing Sophomore and Varsity Baseball and Varsity Softball. The schedules are available on the conference website.
Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area teams (CRANDIC) will compete in Freshman and JV Baseball and Sophomore and JV Softball. Practices for all teams, at all levels, will begin on Monday, June 1st. Games will begin the week of June 15th.
At Linn-Mar, safety is always our first priority. As we work to create the safest possible environment, we ask for your complete cooperation. All students and fans will be required to follow our new policies and procedures, or you will be asked to leave the premises for that day.
Players:
Upon exiting your vehicle to enter the complex you will need to wear a mask. You will keep this mask on until you take your gear to your designated spot to begin practice. You are not required to keep your mask on during practice or games, but you may choose to do so. If you leave the field of play for any reason, including to use the restroom, you are required to put your mask on while you are traveling to and from the area you are going.
When you get to the gate entrance of the field our training staff will be checking your temperature and recording this alongside the answers to a few questions about your current health. If your temperature is above 100.3 you will not be allowed to attend practice/game. If you feel sick you need to stay home.
After you pass the temperature check you will be required to wash your hands before entering the field of play. You will also be required to wash your hands at the end of practice/games before you leave the complex.
There will be no drinking water available at the complex and we are not allowing sharing of water jugs between athletes. All players should bring their own water and leave it with their equipment bags at the beginning of practice.
We are working with our coaches and local health department to see how practices will be conducted using smaller groups and as much social distancing as possible during group settings and will plan to meet with the players at their first practices on Monday to review more specific guidance.
As for equipment, we ask that you bring as much of your own equipment as possible to practices next week. We do have general helmets, bats, and gear that we can offer but would feel more comfortable if you all were bringing in your own gear. Everything that we offer will be sanitized before and after practices.
We will have hand sanitizer on hand but ask that players bring their own if possible.
Parents:
Parents (including all people other than players) are not allowed to leave cars/enter the facility for practices.
For games, we will be doing the following in regard to spectators – this includes home and away contests and was voted on by all members of the Mississippi Valley Conference:
Family Only – No other spectators will be allowed into our facility or onto school grounds for games.
Families will be grouped and assigned seating according to how many tickets you receive as a family (see below).
Upon entering the stadium, you will be required to wear a mask and keep that mask on until you are taken to your assigned seating area.
Once you arrive at your assigned area, you can remove your mask and we ask that you do not wander to other areas of the stadium to connect and talk with people. You will stay in your assigned area for the entire game.
At this time, there will be no seating (bleachers) offered so you will need to bring your own chairs. If you have a handicapped seating request, we will take that information from you the closer we get to the start of games.
There will be no on-site concession stand or shared drinking options for fans. You may bring in your own cooler of drinks/food, but this will be checked upon entry to the stadium for any illegal items (i.e. alcohol).
If you need to leave your assigned area to use the bathroom or leave the game, you will be required to wear a mask during the travel time. Any younger fans that are allowed in on your ticket allotment will not be allowed to roam the stadium, play catch or retrieve foul balls – they will need to remain inside your family area.
Ticket Allotments:
9th Grade Baseball Games
(all single games this year – not double headers) – Will be played on the main baseball field – 2 tickets per dressed player
10th Grade Baseball Games
Will be played on the main baseball field – 2 tickets per dressed player
JV Baseball Games
Will be played on the main baseball field – 2 tickets per dressed player
Varsity Baseball Games
Will be played on the main baseball field – 3 tickets per dressed player
9/10 Softball Games
(all single games this year – not double headers) Will be played on the main softball field – 2 tickets per dressed player
JV Softball Games
Will be played on the main softball field – 2 tickets per dressed player
Varsity Softball Games
Will be played on the main softball field – 3 tickets per dressed player
Remember, we do not have extra seats. Based on capacity limits at our field, as well as others in the conference, these numbers are what we can make work under the current guidelines we are following.
Pre-Participation Physicals
Anyone whose physical expired prior to May 27 will have until June 26 to get one. Further guidance may be forthcoming from the Department of Education, but it would be in your athletes’ (whose physicals expire prior to the end of the baseball/softball season) best interest to schedule a physical as soon as possible. If you do not have an updated physical by June 26th you will not be allowed to participate.
Transportation
We are working with our local transportation department to outline the best practices. At this point we are limited to 13 individuals per bus and we will see if those parameters are made more/less restrictive as we get to the June 15th date.
Future
We are committed to keeping everyone as safe as possible. This includes the players, fans, officials, workers, and administration. We appreciate your cooperation as we work together to make the 2020 summer sports season something special at Linn-Mar. Go Lions!