East Brunswick Schools Look To Resume Indoor Sports This Winter

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — East Brunswick School District is preparing a roadmap to resume indoor sports for the upcoming winter athletic season.

This comes after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order on Monday allowing the resumption of practices and competition in indoor settings at schools.

Read More Here: Indoor Sports Can Resume In NJ Amid Coronavirus, Gov. Says

School Superintendent Victor Valeski said the school district discussed resumption of indoor sports at a meeting on Monday. A complete evaluation is being worked on and a decision will be made soon.

“We're going to evaluate each of our athletic activities - the amount of contact, the amount of exposure for students - and we'll be talking with the Board of Education about all of those, as we get ready to conclude our fall season and moving into winter,” Valeski told Patch.

The Superintendent welcomed Gov. Murphy’s new executive order. “The Governor takes a look at all the data and I feel very confident in looking at the transmission numbers and outcomes that it is a prudent step,” he said.

The school district began practice for outdoor sports in early August. Since then, student-athletes have participated in games against other school teams in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Valeski said the district did not have any students-athlete transmission yet, and that gives them the confidence to move forward with a plan to resume indoor sports.

“Among our athletes, we have not had a student–to-student transmission. We have had two positive COVID cases affecting our athletic teams. And in both those cases virus contraction happened outside of school,” he said.

On Oct. 7, the 8th Grade field hockey team was quarantined after coming in "close contact" with a South Plainfield player who tested positive for COVID.

Read More Here: East Brunswick Quarantines Field Hockey Team

On Sunday, a student-athlete from East Brunswick High School tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in the entire team quarantining for the next 14 days.

Read More Here: Team Quarantines As East Brunswick Athlete Tests COVID Positive

Valeski said there have been multiple interactions among athletes outside since Aug. 3, and most have been safe.

“Done correctly, I think indoor activities can be safe. It's just a matter of following the protocols.”

The school's winter sports include basketball, bowling, ice hockey, swimming, wrestling and winter track.

“Obviously, if something were to change, I'm confident that Gov. Murphy would not continue something that wasn't happening the way they had expected,” he said.

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