Athletics Spring 22

ATHLETICS

All athletics staff and student-athletes are required to submit proof of vaccination (including booster administration) as per the HWS requirement for those traveling on behalf of the Colleges.

Sources of Guidance/Directives for Policies and Protocols:

Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Center for Disease Control
New York State & Ontario County
NCAA Sports Science Institute & Conference associations

Current COVID-19 concerns:

The Omicron and Delta variants are highly infectious and spread of these variants have been swift in states with low vaccination rates.
Students are coming to campus from all over the U.S. and other countries.
Monitoring coronavirus transmission rates for Ontario and surrounding counties.

Transmission Rate Chart*

Indicator	Low Transmission = Blue	Moderate Transmission = Yellow	Substantial Transmission = Orange	High Transmission = Red
Total new cases per 100k persons in past 7 days	0-9.99	10-49.99	50-99.99	≥100
% of NAATs** that are + during past 7 days	0-4.99%	5-7.99%	8-9.99%	≥10.0%

* CDC COVID Data Tracker
** Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs) | CDC

Where do I submit my vaccination information?

Staff and all students should follow the directions for accessing the student vaccination portal and employee form. In addition, student athletes must submit vaccination information to sports medicine via sports medicine preparticipation medical paperwork.

hwsathletics.com/sports/2008/7/1/sportsmedforms.aspx

What does fully vaccinated mean?

For purposes of the winter and spring guidelines, the NCAA COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group has developed a definition of “fully vaccinated” that considers both vaccination status and other immunity factors that may impact risks for Tier 1 individuals, including student-athletes and coaches. Those considered fully vaccinated include people:

Within two months of having completed the primary series of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (one dose). Within five months of having completed the primary series of the mRNA Pfizer vaccine or within six months of having completed the primary series of the mRNA Moderna vaccine (two doses for both).
Who have received a booster vaccine if they are beyond two months of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or beyond five or six months of the mRNA Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, respectively.
A person who has had a documented COVID-19 infection in the past 90 days is considered the equivalent of “fully vaccinated.”

What should a student athlete do if they’re symptomatic?

Student-athletes should contact the Hubbs Health Center for evaluation and potential COVID-19 test. Staff should contact their primary care physician for evaluation and potential COVID-19 test. Please do NOT come to work or practice if you are sick, running a fever, or other symptoms of COVID-19 and wear a mask when in proximity to others, even if not required, until symptom free

What policies or guidelines do spectators have to follow?

Home HWS athletics events for the Spring 2022 semester permit spectators unless a notice communicates a change in policy. Just like other campus visitors, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear masks covering the nose and mouth in indoor public spaces at HWS.
HWS Athletics encourages all spectators to wear masks covering the nose and mouth in outdoor crowded spaces.
At this time, the SAA Tent will not be available for game day SAA member tailgates.
Please do not come to campus, if, in the past 14 days, you
- have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19
- experienced or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or are feeling ill
- tested positive for COVID-19.
Check spectator policies of opposing teams before traveling to that college or university.

COVID-19 Management – Tier 1 HWS Athletics Staff & Student-Athletes

Testing	Not Fully Vaccinated	Fully Vaccinated
Upon Arrival to Campus – Winter Athletes	Rapid antigen test by sports medicine staff day of arrival, plus an at-home pre-arrival test.	Rapid antigen test by sports medicine staff day of arrival, plus an at-home pre-arrival test.
Upon Arrival to Campus – all other Student-Athletes	Tested per Campus Life directions	Tested per Campus Life directions
Surveillance testing – Winter and Spring Athletes	Tested 3x/week by sports medicine or PCR test	No testing^
During Competition Season Weekly PCR per campus surveillance testing (pool testing) when no competition scheduled.	Weekly PCR per campus surveillance testing on following days: Tuesday for competition on Friday Wednesday for competition on Saturday Rapid antigen test per sports medicine within one day of competition for competition on Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed Additional testing may be required by conference/ opponent	Campus surveillance as communicated by Campus Life (currently every other week) Test day of week per communication from Associate AD.
If Sustained Increased* Transmission on a Team	Test all symptomatic individuals or individuals with close contacts. Others may be asked to test at the discretion of the athletics’ staff.

^ No testing unless symptomatic or based on risk assessment of a documented close contact with COVID-19

* Sustained increased transmission is likely occurring if:

Team of ≤ 50: Concurrent positive cases of 3 or more
Team of > 50: Concurrent positive cases of 5% or more

Quarantine/Isolation	Not Fully Vaccinated	Fully Vaccinated
Close Contact	Quarantine for 5 days and per Ontario County/Campus Life policies.	Mask in public indoor settings for 14 days with discontinuation if a COVID-19 test is performed 3-5 days after exposure and is negative, or if assessment does not reveal high risk
Positive Test	Isolation for 5 days and at least 24 hrs have passed since resolution of fever and a negative test on day 6 – location per Campus Life directions. permitted per sports medicine covid-19 athlete management protocol.	Isolation for 5 days and at least 24 hrs have passed since resolution of fever – location per Campus Life directions. Exercise permitted per Sports Medicine COVID-19 Athlete Management Protocol.

Athletic Activities	Not Fully Vaccinated	Fully Vaccinated
Training and competition	Mask in public indoor spaces and crowded outdoor spaces. All indoor athletics facilities, to/from practice, when on outdoor facility sidelines when not active in drills, tbd at opponent	No restrictions unless communicated otherwise (masks required in sports medicine clinics for everyone)
Team Travel	Masking during team travel	At this time, all mask during travel
Other athletic activities (e.g. meetings)	Mask indoors and crowded outdoor spaces Maintain physical distance	No restrictions unless coach-led/staff-led directive
Non-athletic activities	Mask indoors & crowded outdoor spaces	No restrictions unless Ontario County/HWS communicates otherwise

Communication Process of Positive Test, Isolation and Quarantine

Positive Test and Isolation Directive to a Student-Athlete

AD will communicate any team directives

Quarantine Directive to a Student-Athlete

AD will communicate any team directives

What happens if I receive a positive test result?

Staff member to inform their direct report and the Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics and Recreation.
Staff member required to follow the directive of their county health department.

COVID-19 Management – Officials:

Officials contracted to officiate HWS athletic contests are required to meet one of the following:

Be fully vaccinated (Strongly Encouraged),
Show the game day manager a negative result of a PCR test taken within 3 days of competition or antigen test within one day of competition*, or
Wear a mask when in indoor HWS facilities. Wear a mask during indoor HWS competitions. Wear a mask during outdoor HWS competitions when physical distance cannot be met (i.e., communicating within six feet of other officials/players/coaches/staff/spectators).
Officials who don’t comply with masking policies will be issued a verbal warning and the warning will be documented via email message with communication that should another infraction occur that they will not be permitted to officiate at HWS during the 2021-22 season.
The assigner will be copied on the documented communication.

*Note, HWS will not test officials for SARS-CoV-2.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges