Hockey Sidelined Again

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

After months on the sidelines, youth hockey players across the state eagerly laced up their skates in August. Under current youth and amateur sports guidelines, locker rooms operate at 50 percent capacity, only one spectator should attend per player, and players wear masks on the bench. Unlike in MIAA high school sports, players do not wear facemasks while they play, except during faceoffs. 

Unfortunately, these restrictions failed to insulate the hockey community from COVID-19. After several coronavirus clusters were linked to the sport, Governor Baker ordered hockey rinks to close from October 23 until at least November 7. Thirty clusters and at least 110 cases have been traced back to hockey rinks. The number of cases is likely much higher than that, with the Department of Health citing 220 close contacts and 22 probable cases. 

Governor Baker understands the importance of hockey for many Massachusetts families and acknowledges “the shutdown wasn’t welcome news.” However, Baker is not alone in his concern over hockey rinks. State officials in New Hampshire and Vermont enacted similar measures after COVID-19 outbreaks were linked to hockey in their states. 

In New Hampshire, players were welcomed back to the rink on Friday, October 29 under new regulations. Players and coaches in New Hampshire have to test negative for COVID-19 before November 6 to be eligible for play. However, the state’s testing capacity has failed to accommodate the 20,000 members of the hockey community. At testing sites in Manchester, NH, administrators worried that symptomatic patients would not be able to get a test because of the high demand from hockey players. 

Meanwhile, in Vermont, Governor Scott imposed milder restrictions. He ordered that ice rinks not accept new reservations from October 16 until October 30. Existing events, however, were allowed to continue. Scott also asked the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community to “determine if a more aggressive response is needed to prevent further spread of COVID-19 related to activities in indoor skating, hockey and other recreational facilities.” 

  Governor Baker argues the danger does not come from hockey itself. Rather, he worries about interactions between attendees and players off the ice at tournaments. As Baker explains, “these tournaments involve people showing up at a rank at seven or eight o’clock in the morning, playing a series of games over the course of the day, and basically spending more time at the rink with each other, engaged in conversation, sharing food, potentially sharing a drink.” Kevin Kavanagh, executive director of Massachusetts hockey, shares a similar view. He has not heard of confirmed cases from transmission on the ice. Despite such confidence from Kavanagh and Baker, the CDC still labels hockey a “high-risk” sport. 

The stakes are high for keeping hockey rinks safe. Hockey games bring together players from across towns and even states. An outbreak at a tournament has the potential to impact several school districts and communities. With most schools on hybrid schedules, students already have limited time in the classroom. If coaches and players hope to return to the rink, their behavior and protocols have to change. 

Contact tracing is a key strategy to contain the virus and open schools and sports safely. Governor Baker and Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders are disappointed with the lack of cooperation with that effort. In many cases, coaches have refused to share team rosters with contact tracers and even allowed players who should be under quarantine to participate on other teams. The president of Massachusetts Hockey Bob Joyce denounced the failure of teams and coaches, saying “we do not support the obstruction of contact tracing and believe that families, programs and facilities all need to work together to facilitate the process.” For hockey to resume, as so many players hope it will, coaches will have no choice but to participate in contact tracing efforts. Secretary Sudders warns that, under updated guidelines, teams could be banned from play if they fail to share rosters and answer calls about contact tracing.

Beyond restricted contact tracing, state officials have another difficult problem to combat—inconsistency. Although the U.S. Ice Rink Association’s Returning to the Rinks guidelines and state sport regulations help ensure safety, state officials cannot police every rink across the state. Ultimately the burden falls on rink operators and coaches to follow safety protocol, and according to Julie Pryor, a hockey mom from Newton, not all of them do. She explains “the problem is that you play hockey the next day in a different rink, in a different town, and it’s like there’s no pandemic happening. Anybody can go in, nobody’s enforcing the rules.” 

Athletics provide incredible value for children. Young athletes improve their physical health, find an outlet for stress, and form friendships with teammates. Youth sports also yield success in the classroom and workplace. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, children need sports more than ever. Across Massachusetts, most students learn from home at least part-time and lack social interaction. Natalie Duncan shared her disappointment, saying “I’ve been remote and hockey is like my only time out of the house. So it’s going to be hard not playing.” For Natalie and 50,000 other Massachusetts youth hockey players to get back on the ice, cooperation with contract tracing and strengthened safety protocols are key. 

COVID-19 Safety Recommendations

  •  Contact tracing efforts need to be improved, and coaches and parents will be expected to comply and provide rosters
  •  Players and coaches should get tested and quarantine for fourteen days if they are contacted about a potential exposure
  • Players should show up to the rink dressed for the game to limit time in the locker room
  • Social distancing standards and safety protocol should be consistent in all rinks
  • In Vermont, epidemiologist Patsy Kelso warns that the risk of transmission increases when players travel to out-of-state or county games that are high-risk communities for COVID-19. For MIAA high school sports, teams cannot compete with schools in the designated red zones (>8k cases per 100,000 people). Currently, youth hockey does not have those restrictions. 

Maddy Lowy is an intern at the Pioneer Institute. She will be a first year at the University of Virginia next fall. 

Get Our COVID-19 News, Tips & Resources!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related Posts

Prof. Raymond Arsenault on the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides & Civil Rights

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Raymond Arsenault, the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History at the University of South Florida, and author of several acclaimed and prize-winning books on civil rights, including Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. He shares how he became interested in researching, writing, and teaching about the Civil Rights Movement.

Study: After Years of Steady Increases, Homeschooling Enrollment Rose Dramatically During COVID

After steadily increasing for years, the number of parents choosing to homeschool their children skyrocketed during the pandemic, and policy makers should do more to acknowledge homeschooling as a viable option, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

ASU’s Julie Young, Virtual Schooling Pioneer, on Digital Learning during COVID-19

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-host Cara Candal talks with Julie Young, ASU Vice President of Education Outreach and Student Services, and Managing Director of ASU Prep Academy and ASU Prep Digital. They discuss the implications of COVID-19’s disruption of American K-12 education and the future of digital learning.

UChicago’s Dr. Leon Kass on Genesis, Exodus, & Reading Great Books

This week on “The Learning Curve," guest co-host Jason Bedrick and co-host Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Leon Kass, MD, the Addie Clark Harding Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kass describes the important pieces of wisdom and humanity people today can still learn from reading the Book of Genesis, the topic of his 2003 work, The Beginning of Wisdom.

“America Today is on Bended Knee” – 20th Anniversary of 9/11 – 20 Resources for Parents & Students

The heroic stories of 9/11 are part of our national consciousness and memory. It’s the duty and obligation of the living and those who survived to pass along this history to the next generation. As Americans mourn the events of 20 years ago, while in the midst of another national crisis during COVID-19, let’s recommit ourselves to teaching students and the younger generation about seminal events like 9/11 that still shape our world today. To support this effort, we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, and high school students.

NYT Best Seller Dr. Kate Clifford Larson on Fannie Lou Hamer & the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Kate Clifford Larson, a New York Times best-selling biographer of Harriet Tubman and Fannie Lou Hamer. Kate shares why she has written about these historical African-American figures, and how she thinks parents, teachers, and schools can draw on their lives to talk about race.

Valhalla Foundation’s Nancy Poon Lue on STEM Access & Equity

This week on “The Learning Curve," host Gerard Robinson talks with Nancy Poon Lue, incoming Senior Director at the Valhalla Foundation, where she will be leading their K-12 math funding initiatives. Nancy shares her recent work with the EF+Math Program, some of the challenges America has faced in ensuring students have a strong grounding in math and science, and the kinds of results she aims to achieve for kids in all ZIP codes. 

Untangling Variants & Outbreaks: Can Vaccines & Natural Immunity Outrun Delta?

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with author, surgeon, and public health expert Dr. Marty Makary about the COVID-19 Delta Variant, the durability of natural and vaccinated immunity, the benefits of booster shots, and the health risks for children as we move into the fall.

Trevor Mattos Shows How Massachusetts Runs on Immigrants

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Trevor Mattos, research manager at Boston Indicators, the research center at The Boston Foundation, which educates state and local leaders on the important contributions immigrants are making. They discuss the urgency of this work, particularly in a time of divisive disinformation about immigrants and the uncertainty of the pandemic, and some of the surprising findings on the disproportionately large impact immigrant workers, entrepreneurs and innovators are having on the local economy

Yale’s Pulitzer-Winning Prof. David Blight on Frederick Douglass, Slavery, & Emancipation

This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara Candal and guest co-host Derrell Bradford talk with David Blight, Sterling Professor of American History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.

UVA Prof. E.D. Hirsch, Jr. on Core Knowledge, Equity, & Educating Citizens

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Professor E.D. Hirsch, Jr., founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, and acclaimed author of the books, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation.

“Key of the Gulf” – Exploring Cuba – 35 Resources for Parents & Students

Castro’s despotism, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Embargo, remains the Cuban people – vibrant, creative, pious, and poor, who have continued to inspire and awe with their smiles, culture, music, dance, food, tobacco, resilience, and hopes. With the desire of passing along some of this magic to American families, students, teachers, and schools, we’re providing a variety of resources to educate our people about their neighbors, who live a mere 100 miles from our shores, in Cuba.

Human Rights Advocate Kristina Arriaga on Cuba, Religious Liberty, & Cancel Culture

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Kristina Arriaga, president of Intrinsic, a strategic communications firm, and former vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Kristina shares her family’s experiences fleeing Castro’s communist regime in Cuba and other hardships, and how her background has shaped her commitment to religious liberty.

Pandemic Pension Payout: Essential COVID-19 Public Workers Rewarded Whether Essential or Working

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Director of Research and former Massachusetts Inspector General and State Representative Greg Sullivan about HB 2808, COVID-19 Essential Employee Retirement Credit Bonus, discussing the merits of the recently proposed joint bill, its cost, and our current public debt burden in the Commonwealth.

MBTA Ridership Trends Compared to Public Transportation Agencies Nationwide

/
The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on our economy,…

Public Statement on Implementation of the Charitable Giving Deduction

Despite being awash in cash, the state Legislature just overrode Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of a provision to delay by yet another year a tax deduction for charitable donations. Rep. Mark Cusack, House chair of the Joint Committee on Revenue, said “it doesn’t mean no, just not now.” If not now, when?

The Globe’s Ornaments – Celebrating the Great Cities of the Ages – 35 Resources for Parents & Students

Celebrating the Great Cities of the Ages - This is part of Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, teachers, and students during COVID-19.

Jeeves & Wooster’s World The Comic Genius of P.G. Wodehouse – 30 Resources for Parents & Students

Life and writing can and should be playful, witty, light, fun, and make us smile. This is particularly important during the hard realities and sometimes loneliness of COVID, lockdowns, masks, and the increasingly stilted use of language today. To provide some much-needed comic relief and to help people of all age groups glory in the English language, take ourselves less seriously, and laugh more – please enjoy the world of P.G. Wodehouse!