COVID

Greetings, parents!

Welcome back to fall soccer after a full two years away. Thank you all for the patience you are showing with the challenges presented by the loss of Skypark. We are doing our best to try to secure more field space, specifically with the local schools.

We would like to address the COVID-19 issue. We all recognize that the pandemic is still here, and COVID is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. We are aware of the recent upticks in cases due to the new variants, as well as the fact that children under 12 are not eligible for vaccination.

In the spring, we conducted a large parent survey to ascertain feelings about masking. To our surprise, the feedback was almost exactly split, 50/50 on both sides of the issue. One-half of parents said masking during play should be mandatory, or they wouldn’t participate; the other half said that if their kids had to wear masks, they would not participate.

After a lot of discussion, our Club opted to follow whatever County guidelines are in place at the current time. As the guidelines change, we will update our Club policies. We are not doctors nor healthcare experts, so we are not comfortable making up our own rules.

In the spring, the County guidelines provided for masks outdoors except when on the field of play. Parents and players on the sidelines wore masks. That is what we did for our spring 4v4 program, and it went very well. Our spring competitive teams played interleague against other local clubs. Other participating clubs required all players to be masked, even on the field of play. Since agreeing to that was a requirement to participate in interleague, we did it for the competitive teams. It was challenging, but we got through it.

Right now, there is no requirement to wear masks outdoors per County guidelines. Coaches may ask parents to consider masking, but it is not required. We do have a designated Safety Officer to serve as a liaison to County Health if we are given information about potential high-risk exposures. That Safety Officer helps us determine how to handle per County guidelines. We all recognize there could be teams subject to limited quarantine periods in cases of high-risk exposures.

Here are our asks of parents to help us navigate all of this:

• Please pre-screen your own children each day for fever or symptoms of illness
• DO NOT SEND SICK KIDS TO PLAY SOCCER
• Masks are welcome, but not required at this time. It is possible this could change based on County health guidelines
• Please be patient with us–we are not experts on this topic
• If you have a positive case, please work with the County on contact tracing
• If you know your child has been at a practice or game when potentially carrying the virus, please alert the coach or the Club so we may assess and ensure we limit potential spread (safety@svslvsoccerclub.org)
  

Coaches/Managers, please:

• Remind parents to screen their own kids
• Stay alert for objective symptoms of illness; if a kid seems sick, work with parents to keep them home
• Please stay current on the Club’s mask policy, which will mirror the County’s policy
  • Right now masks are welcome, but are not required
• Please do not facilitate high-risk activities such as indoor gatherings; hold team gatherings outdoors
  

Thank you all for participating and helping get the kids back to soccer!

Please visit https://www.santacruzhealth.org/ for the latest information on county COVID safety protocols.  For Club safety information click here. 

In health,

Kim Petersen
President
SV/SLV Soccer Club