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

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!

Public Statement on the MA Legislature’s Blanket Pension Giveaway

Beacon Hill just put on full display what happens when it is awash in money. House Bill 2808 is entitled, “An Act relative to providing a COVID-19 retirement credit to essential public workers.”  It calls for adding three years of additional retirement credit to state “employees who have volunteered to work or have been required to work at their respective worksites or any other worksite outside of their personal residences during the COVID-19 state of emergency…” But upon reading the brief bill, it quickly becomes clear that this legislation is irresponsible in the extreme.

Employment trends in the Greater Boston Area and Touristy Massachusetts Counties during the COVID-19 Pandemic

/
Using MassEconomix, Pioneer Institute’s database on employment…

The COVID-19 Impact on Massachusetts Community College Enrollment & Success Trends

Enrollment at Massachusetts community colleges has dropped 32.61…

Elevating Liberal Democracy Above Fragmentation – 30 Resources for Citizens and Schools

In Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Elevating Liberal Democracy Above Fragmentation.

“Hellhound on My Trail” Celebrating American Blues Music – 35 Resources for Students

As music historian Ted Gioia tells us, the blues are disappearing from popular music, because of modern technology and it not being taught. American schoolchildren need to know more about the basics of blues music history and its many African-American geniuses, who reshaped the sounds and rhythms of all peoples across the globe. To remedy this, we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, and high schoolers.

Why did some nursing homes experience more COVID-19 deaths and infections than others?

/
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused great loss for Massachusetts…

Ely Kaplansky Goes from Immigrant to Inc. 5000 Insurance Entrepreneur

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Ely Kaplansky, President & CEO of Kaplansky Insurance. Since 1974, Ely has created hundreds of jobs in Massachusetts and beyond, with 85 employees in 15 offices across the state today, and he has grown his business during the pandemic, such that Kaplansky Insurance was named to Inc. magazine’s "5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America" list. His success fulfilled the dreams of his parents when they moved from Israel to America in 1955, with just the clothes on their backs and an aunt to take them in. Their journey began in the concentration camps of Germany, and Ely’s story is all about the opportunity and freedom America offers.

Aurora Institute’s Susan Patrick on Digital Learning Lessons from COVID-19

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Susan Patrick, the President and CEO of Aurora Institute and co-founder of CompetencyWorks. Susan shares observations about the long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for American K-12 education, and the prospects for expanding digital learning.

Celebrating American Independence! – 50 Resources on America’s Founding for Schoolchildren & Citizens

American schoolchildren need to know more about the basic history of and lessons from the American Revolution and War for Independence, including perhaps the greatest leader and hero the country has ever produced, George Washington. To do our small part to help the cause, we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, schoolchildren, and citizens better celebrate the Fourth of July!

Why does a gender-gap persist in vaccination rates?

/
Men are more likely to die of COVID-19 than women: 13 men die…

“The Jazz Age” – 1920s America – 50 Resources for High School Students

American schoolchildren need to know more about the basics of the history of and lessons from the 1920s, which did as much as any decade to shape our modern country in the last century. To remedy this, we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, and high schoolers:

Monarchs of the Sea – American Boats, Ships, & their Captains – 40 Resources for High School Students

In Pioneer’s ongoing series of blogs on curricular resources for parents, families, and teachers during COVID-19, this one focuses on: Celebrating American Boats, Ships, & their Captains.

Alzheimer Breakthrough Disillusionment: Confusion on FDA’s Approval of Expensive and Possibly Ineffective Drug

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with precision medicine expert Hannah Mamuszka and Pioneer Institute's Bill Smith about the promises and pitfalls of the newly approved Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, and the challenges presented when new, expensive drugs of dubious benefit are introduced to the nation’s formulary.

Umesh Bhuju Seeks a Fair Deal for Immigrants, Farmers & the Environment

This week on JobMakers, Host Denzil Mohammed talks with Umesh Bhuju, owner of Zumi’s Espresso in Ipswich, Massachusetts, about how a business model based on selling nothing but fair-trade products can thrive in a world driven by profit. He describes his early experiences in his homeland of Nepal, where he witnessed child labor, and how that has shaped his pursuit of the American dream.

New York Times Best Seller Paul Reid on Winston Churchill, WWII, & the Cold War

This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Paul Reid, co-author, with William Manchester, of the New York Times best-selling biography of Winston Churchill, The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965. Reid shares how he was enlisted to complete William Manchester’s biographical trilogy on the greatest political figure of the 20th century, which became a best-seller.

Comparing Covid-19 Vaccination and New Infection Rates in Suffolk County: Is Vaccination Working?

/
Massachusetts ranks fourth nationally for the highest percent…

The People’s House The U.S. House Representatives – 40 Resources for High School Students

American schoolchildren need to know more about the basic civics and history of our key democratic institutions. To remedy this, we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, and high schoolers: