Play ball: Some Ohio sports leagues will be allowed to resume May 26

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A glimmer of hope. From Cleveland.com:

By Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio--Amateur play for “limited-contact” sports such as baseball, golf and tennis will be allowed to resume play on May 26, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced Thursday.

However, state officials are still working on how to safely allow higher-contact sports, such as basketball, hockey, and soccer, Husted said at Gov. Mike DeWine’s daily coronavirus briefing.

Amateur sports leagues have been forbidden to play since early April due to state orders designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.


Husted said the sports allowed to reopen later this month include baseball, softball, golf, tennis and paddle sports. Advisory groups convened by the governor are still working on how to safely resume higher-contact sports like lacrosse, hockey, field hockey, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics.

For other activities, such as frisbee, cornhole, and bocce, the state will offer general safety guidelines regarding sanitizing equipment, social distancing, and wearing face masks while playing, Husted said.

However, DeWine indicated that his administration is not yet ready to allow school sports facilities to reopen yet. “We’re looking at that, and we’ll be back in touch,” the governor said.

Husted added that local authorities will have power to decide whether to reopen facilities.


“We are not forcing them to open anything,” Husted said. “We are allowing them to do so.”

Asked whether spectators will be allowed to watch games when they resume, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said specific rules won’t be released until Friday at earliest.


No decision has been announced yet about how and when professional sports can resume play in Ohio. DeWine has created a separate working group to study reopening pro sports leagues.

Amateur sports are just one of a number of sectors DeWine and Husted said they intend to reopen later this month. State park campgrounds are set to reopen May 21, followed by horse racing on May 22; gyms and rec centers, swimming pools, and Bureau of Motor Vehicles facilities on May 26; and daycares on May 31.

https://www.cleveland.com/coronavirus/2 ... ay-26.html