Are indoor sports potentially returning? Lawsuit settlement offer brings it closer
Central Catholic senior Hannah Castillon wants to play volleyball one more time with her two younger sisters.
While all outdoor sports can be played if a country reaches an adjusted COVID-19 case rate of 14 per 100,000 residents, indoor sports, including basketball, volleyball, and wrestling, must be in the yellow tier, with a case rate of less than one per 100,000.
“How are we supposed to just support one team when we say let them play?,” Castillon said. “No matter what is going to happen, football will most likely get the upper hand but it’s not like we don’t put in the same effort and hard work.”
Volleyball, along with the other indoor sports, had been earmarked for a return once a county reached the orange tier, which requires a 1 to 3.9 case rate. However, last month, they were moved to yellow.
But, those sports could return sooner than anticipated.
According to a story from Bay Area News Group reporter Evan Webeck, Stephen C. Grebing, an attorney who filed a suit over youth sports in San Diego, said on a Zoom call with the Bay Area Basketball Coaching Alliance that he’d received a settlement from the state, which could allow sports to compete under the same reopening tier.
The settlement is from an equal-rights case from a pair of football players in San Diego County, Webeck said.
According to Webeck, the settlement would “overrule local health orders” and indoor sports could return in every county in California with an adjusted case rate below 14 per 100,000.
A ruling is expected on Friday.
Similar lawsuits have been filed throughout the state including San Francisco, San Mateo and Contra Costa counties.
The ruling would a major boost to indoor sports with not one county in the state in yellow and just two in orange.
Pitman girls volleyball coach Kristen Pontes-Christian said the news dropping volleyball down a tier was “devastating” and just added to an already tough year for her athletes.
“We are trying to stay optimistic but it’s really tough, especially right now with distance learning,” she said. “We have discussed so much of things getting canceled in the last year that they don’t get their hopes up about anything.”
Basketball and volleyball can be played outdoors if a county reaches the 14 per 100,000 threshold and Damien High School in Southern California is building an outdoor basketball court, according to the Los Angeles Times.
There have been no discussions among local leagues about building outdoor courts.
Turlock senior basketball player Cameron Walker, who said he has traveled to Arizona, Nevada, and Utah among other states for over five tournaments, said that besides the surface difference between playing indoor and outdoor basketball, the type of rims being used has an effect as well.
“I would bet 99% of players would prefer playing on the inside single rims over double and or triple rims at schools around the state,” Walker said.
Some colleges, including Modesto Junior College, have used tennis courts and brought in portable basketball hoops to create an outdoor basketball court on a softer surface.
Oakdale senior volleyball player Tayler Lamb said playing volleyball on grass would bring a “new dynamic” but “we are wiling to do whatever it takes to play.”
Lamb, who will play at Western Oregon University next year, said it has been “heartbreaking” to walk by the school’s gym and not being able to play volleyball.
“You look at the gym and all of your memories and it’s frustrating,” she said.
There have also been rumored wrestling tournaments happening in the state and Central Catholic wrestling coach Emilio Saavedra said proper protocols and screenings can create safe tournaments.
“The struggle is that without the state allowing it (with certain restrictions), events are still taking place but in more dangerous environments,” he said. “It has also led to an increase in travel outside of the state for those who chose to.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
