BAY MINETTE, Ala. - Baldwin County Public School officials announced Friday (Aug. 14) their plans for fall sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Baldwin County athletic teams will compete under guidelines set forth by the Alabama High School Athletic Association and Governor Ivey's current health order.

 Marty McRae, Assistant Superintendent and County Athletic Director said that their plans are built around safety.

 "Just as we made the decision to open school, safely and with options,” he said. “We are going to open our sports, safely and with options. No one is being required to attend, play or participate. If they choose to come, they will enter our facilities only if they are complying with requirements for entry."

 Spectator capacity in sport venues will be reduced to 50 percent and managed through digital ticket sales.

Superintendent Eddie Tyler said that sports are an essential part to many children's education.

"As a coach and educator for over 45 years, I cannot draw a line between our student's learning on the field and off the field," he said. "For many students, this is the motivating factor to which their success can be attributed. For some, sports could be their passage to the next level of their life.

“We will continue to monitor our teams’ activities, reporting any diagnosed COVID and responding under our phase three protocols. I cannot speculate if we can play the whole season or if this will be a shortened version, but for now, our goal is the state playoffs unless we determine otherwise."

The following changes are among the procedures being implemented to protect school employees, students, fans and others for both indoor and outdoor events:

1-Social distancing will be strongly encouraged, but realizing that enforcing such will be impossible, we will be requiring mask at all events, indoor and outdoor, in compliance with CDC guidelines where 6/15 distancing cannot be maintained.

2-Attendees will be required to wear a mask when entering the facility or will be denied entrance.

3-All event ticketing will be electronic for events where tickets are traditionally issued through GoFan.com under the approval of AHSAA.

a. Some schools will offer season tickets. Check with your school for this option.

b. Tickets will generally go on sale the Monday before the game. We strongly recommend purchasing early as we expect capacity to be met at most games.

c. We will be reserving seats for visiting teams in accordance with AHSAA guidelines.

d.  All tickets will be one price.

5. Concessions will be operating with prepackaged food prepared and served in accordance with health department restaurant and food preparation guidelines.

6. Locker rooms, restrooms and concession facilities are being cleaned under the same guidelines we are using for our campus cleaning by Baldwin County or the facility owner.

7. Volunteers, auxiliary supporters, game participants and operation personnel will be screened prior to entry.

8. AHSAA requirements will dictate on-field and off-field operations.

9. Baldwin County reserves the right to amend these requirements as they deem necessary.