On Tuesday, March 23, the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) and Vermont Principals Association (VPA) released their formal guidelines for spring sports. With the beautiful weather we’ve experienced this week, it was welcome news for BFA Fairfax student-athletes. The information is even more meaningful as our spring student-athletes have not been able to play their respective sports since the end of the 2019 school year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 spring season was cancelled.
The State of Vermont, and specifically our BFA Fairfax community, have done an outstanding job keeping our students safe and accessing in-person learning. Accompanying our ability to learn in person has been the opportunity to take part in co-curricular sports and activities. We have come a long way since the beginning of the school year last September. Safety protocols have become second nature, we know so much more about the virus and how it spreads, and we are on the verge of all Vermonters aged sixteen and older having access to vaccinations. These variables all contribute to the ability to hold a spring athletic season that will look the most “normal” of any season yet this school year.
Per the AOE and VPA release, school-based spring sports may begin practices as of Monday, April 5 (with the traditional exception for baseball pitchers and catchers who may begin skill specific training as of Monday, March 29). Games and events may begin on April 17. Just as in the fall and winter seasons, student-athletes, coaches, officials, game personnel, and spectators will be required to wear masks at all times, pass a health check prior to attending practices or events, and teams will be expected to stay physically distanced when not actively practicing or playing. As with the fall and winter seasons, all state guidelines for travel, quarantine and testing remain in place.
BFA Fairfax’s faithful fan base will be pleased to know that at Vermont’s school-based spring sports that are played outside, spectators will once again be allowed with strict guidelines in place of mandatory masks and physical distancing. The maximum number of attendees allowed at events is determined by state guidelines, which currently limit group size to 150.
BFA Fairfax High School teams will begin on April 5 (with baseball pitchers and catchers starting on March 29). Our Middle School (grades 7-8) teams are expected to begin practices by the end of April, playing a modified schedule of games through the month of May, and the first week of June.
Please be sure to register on the BFA Form ReLeaf platform (shown below) ASAP so we can plan appropriately for the return of our spring sports teams! Best of luck to all!
Geri Witalec-Krupa is the Director of Student Activities at BFA Fairfax. Geri is a regular contributor to THE FWSU STORY. You can follow her @GLWit
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