(Cypress College baseball field/Photo by Brandon Cruz)
As of now Cypress College as well as the other community colleges in the Orange Empire Conference still have their eyes set on January 18 for the official start of practice, with competition starting as early as February 5.
The California Community College Athletic Association, CCCAA, will be holding a Board of Directors meeting on Nov. 6 to revisit this modified schedule as well as determine the actions the community colleges will take regarding pre-screening tests and other health guidelines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The best thing to do is stay proactive with all these uncertainties as Cypress College Athletic Director Wes McCurtis states, “the rules change everyday.”
Questions like how many times a week do the athletes have to test, sanitation rules, fan attendance, and safety for the college officials will be answered.
In addition, a possibility that all athletes will keep their year of eligibility during this season as NCAA and NAIA schools have allowed it for their student athletes.
It’s crucial that everyone in the conference remains on the same page with the same safety precautions so that the season won’t get cancelled.
If a clear conclusion can’t be found in the meeting, the strictest county protocol in where the colleges reside will be the ruling for all teams in the conference.
Currently, there are no team practices, yet Kinesiology classes like conditioning and weightlifting are on campus as students and athletes are allowed to workout as part of their curriculum. Only cohorts of 10 people or less are allowed to be participating at a time.
As there is currently no decision on if fans can be in attendance or not, the Cypress College Athletics team is taking charge of the situation by obtaining streaming equipment so that parents, friends, and fans can still support the Chargers.
