As sports shift indoors for the winter sports season, Gilmer High has announced its procedures for basketball and wrestling events during the COVID-19 pandemic.
GHS athletic director Matt Johnson noted that those who attended a volleyball match in the fall should be familiar with the plan in place.
Home and away fans are free to park in any of the open lots on the GHS campus. Home fans will use the upper left entrance while visitors should enter the gym through the doors on the right.
“So they will pay on separate ends and enter through their designated door to their designated seats,” Johnson said. ‘The middles (of the walkway) will be roped off completely on the concessions side and the entrance side.”
Fans should stay on their respective side of the gym and not intermingle. One major departure from seasons past will be that fans are not permitted to stand and watch games from the walkway behind each basket.
Children who often use the walkway as a continuous play area will not be allowed to do so this season. All spectators must sit in the bleachers.
“There will be no standing. Everyone is required to take a seat for the games,” Johnson said. “We will not have anybody standing and that will be enforced. No one will be allowed on the court in between halves.”
Masks are not required but strongly encouraged. GHS prefers spectators social distance by family in the stands. The bottom two rows of the bleachers will be retracted to provide space between fans and players seated on the bench. Seating for players will be staggered to provide proper spacing.
“We will have a row of eight seats and a row of seven to space players out,” Johnson said. “Then we’ll have that buffer between the bleachers and where the players are seated.
“On the home side, basically all the way across will be for home spectators. On the visitor side, we’re going to take that section that is closest to the concession stand, and we’re going to designate that for our cheerleaders. We’re going to make sure there’s a 6-foot buffer between where they are seated and other fans.”
Concessions will be available and prepackaged. Items such as pizza and hamburgers will be prepared off site by “ServSafe” certified staff.
Gilmer is set to host the tip-off basketball tournament this year. To minimize interactions between multiple fan bases, there will be an hour between the second and third games each day. Games each day will start at 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
“We’re going to have two teams playing, and then we’ll have a little bit longer break between games so we can disinfect everything, clean up and then bring the next two teams in,” Johnson said.
For the four home wrestling events, respective teams and fans will have designated areas in the bleachers.
“We just want fans to be respectful of everyone having their unique opinions on everything that’s going on right now and always erring on the side of safety,” Johnson said.
“We want everyone to understand that the protocols in place are there to ensure the safety of our student athletes, coaches and fans and everyone involved. We certainly appreciate the support and are looking forward to hopefully a successful winter season.”