Rising virus numbers have San Mateo County athletic admins on alert

Melissa Schmidt, girls’ soccer coach and athletic director at Sequoia High School, who also serves as point person for high school athletics in the Sequoia Union High School District, said the mask mandate has not caused any problems for the upcoming season — yet. Of the six sports that begin in the fall, all but volleyball are outside, which has proven to be safe. Indoor volleyball, on the other hand, will still require the use of masks, at least in the SUHSD.

“We are not getting any indication about changes,” Schmidt said. “We (as a high school district) had already decided volleyball had to play with masks. My plan, as of right now, is going forward with everything. That indoor sports will wear masks, which we were going to do anyway.

“Would I be shocked if that changed in an hour? No.”

High school athletes, coaches and administrators are not the only ones keeping a close eye on virus news. Their community college counterparts are also warily waiting for the start of the season. Andreas Wolf, College of San Mateo athletic director, said the fall season is scheduled to begin and be competed as planned.

“We’re proceeding full speed ahead,” Wolf said. “We’re going to ensure health and safety is a focal point, but we’re going to proceed as usual.”

High school and community college athletics, however, operate under different rules. While high school athletics were played this past spring, community college baseball and softball teams were the only athletes that saw any kind of regular play at that level. Wolf said the California Community College Athletic Association takes a lot of its cues from the NCAA, but even with that, there are differences between major college athletics and community college.

“The high profile schools, the big-time Division I programs, are mandating vaccinations,” Wolf said. “[The CCCAA is] at a different level and (getting vaccinated) is still about personal choice. We’re encouraging vaccinations… If someone does not want to get vaccinated, we’re going to honor that.

“We just want to give our students and staff an education about what (getting vaccinated) means. The key for us education and, ultimately, individual choice.”

Wolf did say, however, that the San Mateo Community College District is mulling whether to mandate vaccinations for staff and students, which would include student-athletes. Wolf said no decision has been made and any kind of vaccination mandate would not come before the spring semester, at the earliest.

While the CCCAA waits for more guidance from the NCAA, high schools are still operating under the youth sports guidelines that were released at the beginning of the year. Until new guidelines come out, Schmidt said she is simply going off of what the state is already allowing.

“Interestingly, youth sports guidelines have not been updated. The old guidelines have been archived and there is nothing new,” Schmidt said. “The word is there is something new coming out. That’s the rumor that’s been floating out there.”

Schmidt doesn’t envision the state shutting down youth sports again like it did last year, mostly because coaches and administrators learned a lot about staging games and matches during a pandemic. Schmidt said she could see testing of athletes beginning again, but for the most part, she believes plans are in place to move forward with high school athletics as safely as possible.

“With testing and mask wearing, we (returned to competition) safely (in 2021),” Schmidt said. “The thing I think we have going for us is that we’ve done this before and it went pretty well.”

Schmidt also believes that because more than 90% of those eligible to be vaccinated in San Mateo County have been, she is hoping that any virus surge would be short-lived. She also said we need to come to grips with the fact that coronaviruses will be an issue going forward.

“A lot depends on how the next few weeks go, how the recall (election) goes and also if people are getting vaccinated,” Schmidt said. “There is a thought that COVID isn’t going to go away, but the impact is lessened if vaccinated. … I think there is an attitude now that we have to find a way to live with this.”

Schmidt also pointed out that the pandemic is not the only thing that has affected high school sports. She mentioned the fact that wildfires and poor air quality have taken their toll on high school athletics over the last several years and that COVID is just one more issue to factor into playing high school sports.

“Another thing we have to worry about is wildfire season and the [air quality index],” Schmidt said. “There is always something. [COVID] is becoming a thing that we’re going to have to deal with. It’s going to go up and down.”