Soccer in The Time of Covid: Why can't we use the bleachers?

Why are the bleachers blocked off? We could spread out more if we could use the bleachers.

This is true, social distancing would be easier if we could use the bleachers and we all wouldn’t have to lean up against the same fence or sit side by side all the way down the sideline and wrapped around the end line once we put 6 feet between each group. But, there is a reason why the bleachers are closed off and it has nothing to do with preventing Covid and everything to do with facilities doing their best to allow as many spectators as possible without violating the health order.

With the recent health mandate allowing “all sports” to resume play, came a lot of rules for our facilities and whether they are practical or not, the facilities have to follow them. Facility capacity is now restricted to the lesser of 15% of fixed seating capacity or 1500 persons.

This means if a facility has 5 fields and 1 field has bleachers that seat 100 spectators then the capacity for the entire facility would be limited to just 15 people. This is why facilities have had to dismantle, tape off or move their bleachers and benches.

If you arrive at a facility where the bleachers are taped off please don’t use those bleachers or remove the tape. That facility has deliberately prepared their facilities in accordance with the most recent health mandate. In order for our kids to have the opportunity to continue to play we need facilities to continue to take the risk of having us there. They do this with the assumption that we will follow the regulations they have been given and the rules they have put into place to stay compliant.

For more information on Ohio’s most recent mandate regarding sports we have several links available here.