At a time when America’s Major League ballparks remain shuttered and empty, a Missouri event organizer is ready to bring back youth baseball.
Rob Worstenholm expects 47 teams to converge on two baseball complexes outside St. Louis this weekend to participate in one of the country’s first sporting events since late March.
Tournament staffers must sanitize bathrooms and concession stands every few hours and the dugouts and baseballs between innings. Only three socially distanced players will be allowed in the dugout at the same time. The rest must spread out down the fence lines at intervals of at least six feet. The return of youth baseball in Missouri is a byproduct of governor Mike Parson’s decision to allow the state’s stay-at-home order to expire last Monday and to encourage most businesses to reopen. How quickly youth sports resume elsewhere will depend on what local and state authorities allow and what prominent sport and public health officials recommend.
The tournament will be played in two counties, St. Charles and Jefferson, where there are 631 and 286 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 30 and 10 COVID-related deaths, respectively. In neighboring St. Louis County, there have been 3,539 COVID-19 cases and 204 deaths. Youth tennis tournaments can safely resume anytime, according to Newland, if participants practice social distancing before and after matches or during changeovers. Newland advises parents of team sport athletes to wait until at least July — perhaps much longer in the case of contact sports like basketball, football and soccer, where social distancing is impractical if not impossible.
“Anytime you’re the first person to do something the automatic response is, ‘Rob’s doing this to make money,’ ” Worstenholm said. “Well, if I really wanted to make money, I wouldn’t have taken only 47 teams. I could have just as easily sat at home the next four weeks, but so many kids want to play so bad. It would have been very disheartening for me to sit at home knowing I could have done it.”
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'I just miss them so much': What it's like to be principal of a school closed by coronavirusPrincipals across the country are adjusting to new routines, and though each one's experience is different, their stories provide a clearer idea of what everyone faces.
Read more »
Perspective | A teacher predicts what his classroom (and others) will look like in the fallPerspective: A teacher predicts what his classroom (and others) will look like in the fall
Read more »
Analysts say stocks like Amazon and Wingstop will continue to benefit from a socially distant worldYour weekend brief: Analysts say stocks like Amazon and Wingstop will continue to benefit from a socially distant world
Read more »
Seniors Are Having Prom And Graduation Online, But It Can't Replace The Real ThingHigh school and college seniors are grappling with the end of their educational experiences, and the celebrations that were cut short by coronavirus: “There’s so much that I did for the last time– without ever realizing it was the last time”
Read more »