BY CHRIS FORTUNE
Eudora High School will follow state high school activities guidelines and allow up to two parents or guardians per participant(s) family at school activities starting today. This includes members of band, cheer and dance.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association board of directors passed the motion 54-24 earlier this week to allow fans during school activities as allowed by local school board or health department restrictions.
Activities Director Cara Kimberlin said the Eudora School Board will not address the subject and the district will allow up to two parents or guardians at athletic events.
“The point is to let the parents in to watch the kids play and to have a parent there in case there was an emergency medical situation,” she said.
The decision by KSHSAA was a quick turn from its Nov. 24 decision, which stated no spectators would be allowed for activities from Dec. 1 to Jan. 28.
Extra precautions will be taken and Eudora will continue to follow the Douglas County Smart and Safe School Reopening Guidance, which is currently in phase orange.
“When they play basketball, wrestle or cheer, everyone has to be in a mask even on the floor competing,” Kimberlin said. “In the orange, those are requirements we have to make as well.”
Boys’ basketball coach Kyle Deterding said that practices changed in the first week since the school opened again on Nov. 30 with hybrid instruction, and he expects games to be different. Some players practiced in the morning while others practiced in the afternoon and they even used the elementary school to practice.
Deterding said that in the second week since the school has been open, the school allowed up to 26 players to practice in the high school gym at a time as COVID numbers decreased. Players are still spread out on different ends of the floor wearing masks.
“Game intensity is going to be a little different,” he said. “I’m guessing the subs will be a little quicker than they would be otherwise.”
Deterding said that no special masks will be worn during games as of now and players will continue to use masks they normally wear.
“As of now each kid is kind of on their own,” Deterding said. “Some of them like the disposable masks that they can just throw away.”
Winter sports schedules at EHS have changed with some basketball and wrestling events being rescheduled, postponed or cancelled through late January.
When Eudora students were sent home for remote learning on Nov. 17, practice was delayed and didn’t start until Nov. 30. The delay caused wrestling matches and basketball games in early December to be postponed due to the lack of practices.
Kimberlin said she initiated some changes in the schedule for home basketball games to avoid hosting as many as six games a night to limit the number of spectators and players going in and out of the gym.
“This is nothing different than what we dealt with in the fall with changes,” she said. “There’s going to be bumps along the way throughout the schedule.”
The EHS sports schedule is regularly updated here.
Reach reporter Chris Fortune at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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