Modesto uses bolts, boards to stop basketball players during coronavirus surge
Modesto has bolted boards to the basketball rims in its parks to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that has surged in Stanislaus County.
City spokesman Thomas Reeves said in an email that Modesto banned basketball “after direction from the (county’s) Emergency Operations Center in order to prevent the use by groups that are not family members/living in the same household, and to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
He said Modesto observed too many people playing basketball who were not members of the same household. The city encourages residents to use its parks as long as they practice the rules to stop the spread of the virus, including playing only with people you live with and staying at least six feet from those you don’t.
But in an email to The Bee, one avid basketball player called the city’s decision unfair. He said he sees residents pack the tennis courts and skate park at Beyer Park and young people playing soccer and flag football.
“Why is basketball specifically being targeted,” the resident wrote. “Organized soccer? Good. Organized football? Good. Group of skaters? Good. Playing tennis? Good. Shooting a basketball, by myself, with a mask on? ... Too dangerous???”
Reeves repeated Modesto’s concern about how its basketball courts were being used. He said the city will post signs at its parks reminding park-goers of the rules to stop the coronavirus.
He said closing the basketball courts is not the same as closing parks’ grass fields: The courts are used for just one purpose, while the fields are used for many, from tossing a Frisbee and taking a walk to soccer and picnics. He added that tennis does not have the close contact of basketball.
On Friday, Reeves could not immediately comment about Beyer Park’s skate park.
A visit to two city parks Sunday morning — Coffee Claratina Neighborhood Park and Woodrow Park — found the basketball hoops unobstructed. Teen players said the Coffee Claratina hoops, at least, had earlier been boarded over. Reeves could not immediately be reached Sunday about whether the city already had lifted the basketball prohibition, had not gotten around to putting boards on hoops at all parks, or whether players had removed the obstructions.
Park restrictions in Oakdale, Waterford
Modesto monitors how its parks are being used through complaints it receives from residents, as well as from what park maintenance workers see.
Modesto reopened its parks in late April after shuttering them in the early stage of the pandemic. Modesto is not the only local city to tighten up park use since then.
Oakdale closed its full-court basketball court and skate park at its Oakdale Community Park on July 31 because too many people were using them without physical distancing. And just before that, Waterford closed its River Park and South Reinway Park and Trail Head because of large crowds.
They remain closed, according to officials with both cities.
This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 10:30 AM.
