New Update Posted!

Important Health & Safety Protocols

Updated Covid Policy Governing Games and Practices
January 10, 2021

HCYP Basketball will generally follow the current policy established by Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) and the Howard County government that covers community use of indoor facilities specifically pertaining to indoor basketball. For policy not explicitly covered in Howard County or CDC policy, HCYP Basketball will defer to guidelines establsihed by the CDC.

Following is the current set of protocols which must be followed to participate in any HCYP Basketball game or practice, in cooperation with current HCPSS requirements:

  • Masks are required in all HCPSS buildings, in alignment with CDC recommendations.
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  • Players and referees engaged in a specific physical athletic activity are not required to wear masks.  This is per HCPSS guidelines as of January 10, 2022, as stated in the HCPSS gym use permits issued to HCYP Basketball.  This is also stated in guidelines issued by the CDC.  (In other words, players engaged in the actual activity of playing the game while on the court and referees engaged in refereeing that activity are not required to wear masks while they are engaged in those activities; however, they must wear their masks when they are not directly engaged in those activities.)
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  • No food may be brought into the gyms for consumption.
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  • Players on their bench will be appropriately distanced during games and must be masked when not playing. Removal of masks to drink water and similar is permitted.
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  • While HCPSS has lifted restrictions on the number of attendees to events, HCYP Basketball recommends that no more than two parents and two additional family members (not including the child player and children under two years of age) attend any game. All must be masked in accordance with CDC Guidelines.
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  • In accordance with CDC Guidelines, a person who cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, because of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is exempted from this mask policy and is allowed to participate in all athletic activity accordingly.
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  • Persons who are under the age of two, or who cannot remove the mask on their own, are not required to wear a mask, per CDC and the World Health Organization.
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  • Anyone who does not feel well or is running a fever or showing any cold or flu-related symptoms, cannot attend any HCYP Basketball game or practice.  Anyone exhibiting these or similar symptoms will be asked to return to their homes.
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  • Children are not allowed to run throughout the gym or play in the hallways of the school unattended.
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  • Spectators and players must wait outside of the gym until the players and spectators from the preceding game have left. In addition to safety precautions, this will give time for the staff to wipe down chairs and prepare for the next game.
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  • Per HCYP Basketball rules of the game, only two coaches may be on the bench during the game, warmups, timeouts and period breaks. Coaches must remain masked at all times.
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  • Volunteers for each team who manage the clock and/or scorebook must remain at the score table for the duration of the game and must be masked.
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  • Upon completion of each game, all players should resume full masking and line up to “fist-bump” in sportsmanship of the completed game before proceeding to depart the gym. Anyone uncomfortable with this usual and customary practice in basketball may be exempted from participating in it.

This Covid policy and statement of protocols will be revised as the policy with HCPSS, the Howard County government, and/or CDC is revised.  Any notice of change will be distributed to all commissioners, coaches and players promptly when such changes are made.

People may contact any league commissioner or HCYP Basketball executive staff with all questions about this Covid policy and HCYP Basketball’s implementation of it.

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Further Reading & Support:

 

 

 

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For More Information Contact:

BJ Borden
Director of Basketball Operations
Howard County Youth Program, Inc.
bj@hcypbasketball.org