Update to Baseball, Softball Season
(Posted May 27, 2020)
Johnston athletic/activity directors have been working with athletic directors from across the state, our CIML schools, and our state athletic unions to further iron out the details of the upcoming softball and baseball season.
As always, our number one priority is the safety of our students, staff, and the community as a whole throughout the season. This summer will look unlike any other. Our discussions have been great and we’re all working toward the goal of getting some great games in, safely and responsibly.
Timelines
June 1: Team-organized practices for baseball and softball may begin unless circumstances dictate a change in date. Baseball and softball practices held during June 1-15 will not be open to the public.
Safe practice protocols will be published on Friday, May 29 at 12 p.m. This will include specific requirements for students and coaches attending practice and will be finalized after a meeting with the IHSAA / IGHSAU on Thursday, May 28, 2020. At that time, we will also provide information regarding a parent meeting to be held on or about June 1, 2020.
The pre-participation requirements (physical, concussion form) for students remain, with these adjustments due to COVID-19: Anyone whose physical expired prior to May 27 will have until June 26 to get one. Further guidance may be forthcoming from the Iowa Department of Education but it would be in the athletes’ (whose physicals expire prior to the end of the baseball/softball season) best interest to schedule a physical as soon as possible.
May 27: CIML athletic directors will be meeting to map out game schedules. With a number of anomalies at different school districts in the CIML, creating a schedule is likely to take longer than normal. We hope to be able to provide a Summer 2020 schedule for softball and baseball by June 2, 2020.
June 15: Baseball and softball games may begin unless circumstances dictate a change in date. Baseball and softball practices must continue to follow the mitigation guidelines. These efforts must be followed to help ensure student athlete, coach, and spectator safety during games. Through continued meetings of CIML athletic directors and the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, we are working to establish unified spectator standards. We expect to have these spectator guidelines in place by June 2.
In addition to in-person games, we are fortunate to have a high-quality live-stream network to watch games from anywhere. We recommend utilizing the live stream to safely watch the games with play-by-play commentary.
We realize there is not a lot of new information to share, but we also want to be transparent in our process to move forward with games and the details around having players, coaches, and spectators safely participate this summer.
Please look for another update by June 2 regarding schedules and spectator guidelines.