Spring and summer sports play is a waiting game with pandemic

Springtime in the Greater Spokane Area is, when an unseasonable snowfall hasn’t mucked up the works, a time of activity.

The sidewalks are full of walkers and joggers and more than a few serious roadrunners. The parks are filled with folks out to enjoy some sunshine after a long winter indoors.

Golf courses are packed with duffers filling out nearly every available tee time and ball fields are busy with soccer and softball teams preparing for the upcoming season. Basketball courts get filled and sports like lacrosse take to idle playfields.

Except this spring. This COVID-19 spring is different.

Golf courses and ball fields are shut down. Playground equipment is cordoned off and the runners you see out are likely working out solo and many are wearing masks. While hiking trails and sidewalks remain open, folks are encouraged to adhere to social-distancing guidelines. Better yet, to stay inside and stay safe.

It’s more than a little odd to see. On a brilliant spring day, all these normal hubs of activity are empty. Golf courses have become elaborate green belts and softball diamonds are so quiet you can almost hear dandelions grow.

Doug Chase is the Spokane County director of Parks, Recreation and Golf. He’s part of the team designing plans to reopen area facilities once the governor lifts his ban on such things.

“Judging only from my own experience, I think a lot of us are ready to get back outside and recreate,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can right now.”

Spokane County is not alone in facing the challenge of jump-starting recreation programs that, along with schools and nonessential businesses, were all shut down in mid-March. Many of the state’s municipal administrators have been in conversations together, group-thinking the best strategies for a return to normalcy.

Part of the challenge, Chase said, is that some of the parameters tend to be changing – sometimes by the day.

May 31 is the current target date the county is considering for reopening area golf courses, parks and recreational facilities. For the time being, it’s a best guess. It can change. And then change again as conditions evolve.

Change may well be the only constant when it comes to dealing with the novel coronavirus.

“We’re looking at a lot of different scenarios,” Chase said. “We’re optimistic that we may be in a position to reopen (softball leagues). We’re looking at June 7 as the (potential) start date. But we’re also ready to adjust that if we need to.”

It is quite possible recreational activities will not all be treated equally when it comes to reopening – a phased scenario is likely. Allowing golf courses to open would be a likely initial move.

“We’ve come up with some very good changes to make it more in line with social distancing,” Chase said. “We’ve spread out tee times so the course isn’t as crowded. We’ve removed things like rakes at sand traps – the common touch-point stuff so that multiple people aren’t handling them.

“We’re also looking at racquet-type sports – tennis and pickleball. They’re also more in line with social-distancing guidelines. Some other sports, not so much.”

Other sports are more challenging.

The Spokane Youth Sports Association was just weeks away from starting its spring season when things were shut down in March.

“We do year-round sports,” SYSA Executive Director Philip Helean said. “We have about 10,000 kids that go through our various sports seasons. We were gearing up for our spring season, and between baseball, softball, soccer, rugby and track and field, we had somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 kids participating. That’s on hold now, obviously. Right now, our spring season is not even a possibility. It’s not going to happen.

“We’re kind of at the mercy of when they say we can go. But I have no idea when that will be.”

To make matters worse, funding sources for SYSA have stopped as well, so the organization has had to cut its expenses, including payroll, down to a bare-bones level.

“We’ve run Bingo for something like 30 years and that’s been shut down,” Helean said. “To make matters worse, our April 25 fundraiser has had to be canceled.”

The Spokane Valley Girls Softball Association canceled its 2020 summer season, saying it just isn’t able to do all the things necessary to hold the season under the current conditions.

Spokane’s Senior Softball Leagues is awaiting the season to open.

Fianna Dickson, from City of Spokane Parks and Recreation, said since senior softball involves a group with a higher risk for the virus, it will coordinate with the Regional Health District and their counterparts at Spokane County to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

“Softball isn’t alone,” she wrote in an email. “We have many seniors who participate across our recreation programs, including golf, outdoor, arts, therapeutic recreation, wellness and more. So, we will work with health experts and count on their guidance to ensure we provide a safe recreation opportunity across our programs, including softball, for those who are most vulnerable.”

Baseball organizations are on hold as well.

Spokane Indians Youth Baseball and Softball announced it is monitoring the COVID-19 situation and has canceled all practices and games at least through May 4. Its Cinco de Mayo Tournament has been canceled.

Spokane American Legion Baseball already has canceled its annual Wood Bat Classic tournament, scheduled for July 3-6.

Spokane County allowed softball players to sign up for leagues online, but no deposits or fees have been taken. The number of players signed up is right at the number projected for this season.

Whenever the state ban is lifted, play should return to normal.

Potential tournaments planned for later this summer will be revisited once play resumes, Chase said.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see what we have once we get there,” he said. “The name of the game right now is to be flexible.”