Chapman athletics COVID-19 policy update: spring sports to return with loosened restrictions for athletes, fans

Spectators of Chapman athletic events must ensure they meet requirements for entry before attending a game. JAKE NEEDHAM, Staff Photographer

While it may seem like a setback to start the semester off with Zoom classes, athletes have been able to carry on their sports in-person to prepare for the spring season.

Chapman sporting events will be operating at full capacity but with several requirements for its spectators including face masks, a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination and social distancing, according to the updated Chapman athletics guidelines. 

Chapman athletics has been working closely with school administration and local health authorities to implement these policies, and the athletics department administration and director of sports medicine and athletic training said they will adjust these policies accordingly as conditions change. 

“We’re very excited to have fans back, it makes playing even better. So we’re very happy that we’re safely able to have people in the stands,” said Dan Kirkpatrick, head coach of women’s lacrosse.

These updated COVID-19 guidelines were released during interterm with only half of the student body on campus taking classes, so the effectiveness of these policies remains to be seen as students filter on campus this week. Men’s and women’s basketball, swimming and diving have been the only sports that have played with these conditions so far.

Steven Olveda, Chapman’s sports information director, said there is no capacity limit for spring sporting events, estimating that fan attendance over interterm has been in the range of 100 to 200 individuals. He also said the athletics department has yet to encounter any issues with the policy from athletes or spectators.

“We communicate (the policies) with the teams (and) with our opponents that are coming to play us well in advance,” Olveda said. “Chapman’s ticketing service really takes care of a lot of (the policy), because it’s (part of) every event that we do on campus or have done on campus over the last month.”

Olveda said the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) conferences have set benchmarks for COVID-19 policies. Schools in the SCIAC conference like the University of Redlands and the University of LaVerne have both decided to prohibit spectators for their indoor games — an example of the variation that can be seen in the implementation of policies.

Chapman Director of Athletics Terry Boesel said that Caltech does not allow unvaccinated individuals at all on their campus, which created some issues back in the fall as some Chapman teams had unvaccinated individuals unable to compete on the campus. 

Boesel also said these COVID-19 protocols typically do not result in the cancellation of games, unless teams have a high positivity rate of COVID-19 cases.

“We had some games canceled; both our men’s and women’s basketball earlier in the year (had canceled games).” Boesel said. “Those have gotten rescheduled now. Other than that, there has been minimal disruption in playing.”

Boesel added that Chapman spring sports will not involve any indoor activities, which means that  masks will not be required but recommended for athletes and officials. While athletes and officials are not required to wear masks, support staff and spectators must use face coverings.

“As of now we’re still requiring spectators (to show proof of vaccination or a negative test), even if it’s outdoors in any Chapman facilities on our campus,” Boesel said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this thing kind of starts to taper down and we can loosen some of those restrictions as we get into spring.”