There will be high school baseball in Nashua this spring, as well as all the other middle and high school sports, thanks to Board of Education approval on Monday evening. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Spring has officially been sprung from its year-long hiatus in the city with regard to middle and high school sports.

The Nashua Board of Education Monday unanimously approved a plan for spring sports presented by Nashua athletic director Lisa Gingras.

Remember, last spring the entire season was first delayed and then cancelled by the NHIAA statewide altogether in late April.

The spring sports menu, all of which is outdoors, includes baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls tennis, and boys and girls outdoor track.

Impact testing by appointment can begin on on March 24, with practices/tryouts starting March 29. Seasons are set to begin April 12.

“The biggest change this season is all of our sports are outdoor sports,” Gingras told the board. “But it’s important as we see our numbers going down and we see more people getting vaccinated that we still remain vigilant on our precautions,” Gingras said, adding she met with city health officials before finalizing the plan.

Highlights of the plan include:

Masks will be required at all times unless deemed unsafe for a particular sport, event, or position. Examples

of events and positions that could present a safety risk wearing a mask include pole vault, high jump, long and triple jump, pitchers, catchers, and goalies.

“Sometimes a mask can drop your vision,” Gingras said. “Those determinations will be made as we get closer to games, and once students get into practices.”

Again, she added, health officials will be consulted prior to those decisions.

Gingras’ plan is for the spring to mirror the fall in terms of fan attendance, to start. Four fans per participant (up from the winter guideline of two, since games are outdoors), immediate family only and New England residents only will be allowed to attend.

However, Gingras proposed that visiting fans would be allowed to attend beginning May 13 (10 days after April vacation) and into the playoffs.

That, she added, will actually allow both North and South fans to attend North-South games, which are scheduled for late in the season.

Public health officials will be consulted, she said, prior to that change.

Quarantine guidelines have been changed to reflect the changes adopted by the state of New Hampshire.

Here are situations that would involve possible quarantine:

One — after close contact, travel out of New England, and/or attending a large gathering the quarantine is

now 10 days (rather than 14 as before) as long as no symptoms present.

Testing out of that quarantine would not be permitted.

Two — If a student/coach exhibits symptoms they would be sent home immediately; they may not return until at least 10 days since first symptom and

at least 3 days since last symptom and will need a doctor note or negative test.

Three – In cases of close contact with someone suspected of or confirmed to have COVID, travel outside New England or have attended large gathering (more than 30) without masks and social distancing, the protocols are: Sent home immediately; may not return until at least 10 days have past since last contact/exposure/travel; cannot test out of this quarantine; as long as no symptoms have presented, individual may return on day 11 but continue

to monitor symptoms through day 14.

If symptoms present, he/she must begin a 10 day quarantine as previously outlined.

Student/coach has been exposed and is awaiting test results: Team is temporarily shut down until it’s known if that student/coach is positive.

If a student/coach is negative, he/she stays away from the team pending clearance from public health and/or

school (normally at least10 days)

The remainder of team may resume activities.

If student/coach is positive, the team is shutdown for a period because entire team had been in close contact with teammate or coach that is positive. Previous opponents will be notified of potential exposure, contact tracing will be conducted and guidance

from public health on the team’s and individual’s return will be followed.

There are two exceptions to some of the 10-day quarantines: If student or coach is fully vaccinated, and individuals who have previously tested positive in the last 90 days. In both cases, Gingras said documentation will be required to avoid quarantine.

Of all the seasons, spring most likely has the most emotional impact given it was a season lost in 2020. It will also be special for track and field athletes, who practiced but were not able to have an indoor season due to colleges not being able to make their facilities available due to the pandemic.

The presentation, board member Ray Guarino said, “alleviated, I guess, fears I might have. I know we’ve been successful in the past with sports and when there was a problem, we dealt with the problem right away. I know (Gingras) shut things down when we had problems.

“It’s great that we give the students something, and they salvage something out of this crisis.”

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