Best Practices on Organizing, Playing, and Watching Baseball and Softball – Fall 2020

Information for: Parents/Guardians, Players, Coaches, Officials and Spectators

These are general guidelines.  Please see the State of Illinois Phase 4 guidelines at https://dceocovid19resources.com/assets/Restore-Illinois/postertext4/youthsports.pdf

Healthy Practices:

• All players, coaches and spectators should practice good general health habits, including but not limited to:

• Do not attend events if exhibiting any COVID 19 symptoms
• Take temperature prior to attending events
• If you have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID 19, you must follow all CDC guidelines, including quarantine for up to 14 days.
• Wash hands often
• Refrain from touching face
• Wear mask when appropriate
• Maintain six foot distance from others when possible
• Stay adequately hydrated.

• Coaches should maintain attendance for all practices and games.
• Only Officials and registered team coaches and players should be on the field of play or in dugouts.

No Handshakes/Personal Contact Celebrations:

• Players and coaches should take measures to prevent all but the essential contact necessary to play the game. This should include refraining from handshakes, high fives, fist/elbow bumps, chest bumps, group celebrations, etc. Consider lining up outside the dugout and tipping caps to the opposing team as a sign of good sportsmanship after a game.
• Players and families should vacate the field/facility as soon as is reasonably possible after the conclusion of their game to minimize unnecessary contact with players, coaches, and spectators from the next game, ideally within 20 minutes.
• Spectators need to social distance, 6 feet apart from other team parents.  In addition, team spectators should stay on same side of diamond as their team, maintaining a 30 foot distance from the opposing team and spectators. 

Drinks and Snacks:

• Athletes, managers/coaches, and umpires should bring their own personal drinks to all team activities. Drinks should be labeled with the person’s name.
• Individuals should take their own drink containers home each night for cleaning and sanitation or use single-use bottles.
• There should be no use of shared or team beverages.
• Teams should not share any snacks or food. Players should bring individual, pre-packaged food, if needed and dispose of all personal garbage.

Personal Protective Equipment:

• All coaches, volunteers, umpires, etc., should wear face coverings whenever applicable and possible.
• Players should wear cloth face coverings when not exercising and when in close contact areas and in places where recommended social distancing is challenging or not feasible, such as in dugouts.
• Players should not wear protective medical gloves on the field during game play.
• Players, especially at younger divisions, are not required to wear a cloth face covering while on the field during game play.
• Players will be permitted to wear a cloth face covering on the field during game play, if physically able to do so, based on any directive of a medical provider or individual determination of the player/parent.
• Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.

Dugouts:

• Coaches and players should be assigned spots in the dugout or on the bleachers so that they are at least six feet apart.
• Players are to stay at their assigned spots when on the bench or while waiting their turn to bat.

Player Equipment:

• No personal player bat bags/equipment bags should be allowed in the dugout.
• Player equipment should be spaced 6 feet apart outside the dugout to prevent direct contact.
• Players should have their own individual batter’s helmet, glove, bat, and hand sanitizer.
• Measures should be enacted to avoid, or minimize, equipment sharing when feasible.
• Some critical equipment may not be able to be obtained by every individual. When it is necessary to share critical or limited equipment, all surfaces of each piece of shared equipment must be cleaned first and then disinfected with an EPA-approved disinfectant against COVID-19 and allowed sufficient time to dry before used by a new player. Increased attention should be paid to detailed cleaning of all equipment directly contacting the head and face (catcher’s mask, helmets).
• Player’s equipment (e.g. bags, helmets, bats, gloves, etc.) should be cleaned and disinfected after each use by a parent/guardian, where applicable.

Baseballs and Softballs:

• Baseballs and softballs should be rotated through on a regular basis, to limit individual contact.
• Umpires should limit their contact with the ball, and catchers should retrieve foul balls and passed balls where possible.
• Foul balls landing outside the field of play should be retrieved by participating players, coaches, and umpires.  No spectators should retrieve the ball.