Photo Credit: OldWestburyPanthers.com
Athletes and students who wish to attend sporting events at SUNY Old Westbury have a few things to consider. Student athletes have take daily temperature checks, complete a daily online survey, arrive early to venues to give enough time for all participation procedures, perform post participation hygiene practices like hand washing and showering, and report any Covid-19 symptoms to sports medicine as soon as possible, according to The SUNY Old Westbury Student Athlete’s Guide.
Student athletes also must make sure that they are compliant with the SUNY Old Westbury Campus Covid-19 Procedures that apply to all students and employees attending the campus. Requirements such as masks when indoors on campus for both vaccinated students and unvaccinated students. According to SUNY Old Westbury Fall ’21 Covid-19 Guidance guidelines, SUNY Old Westbury seeks to serve students with a more traditional College experience, but that has not been possible since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of the restraints have remained in place and the college has the right to increase or reduce space capacities based on the level of presence of Covid-19 found in the college community.
According to SUNY Old Westbury Spectator Policy, the Skyline Conference announced revisions to its athletics Spectator Policy in April, however, SUNY Old Westbury decided to uphold its current policy of not allowing spectators at sporting events.
Throughout most of the fall semester, the Covid-19 Campus Engagement Level has been Green. Spectator attendance is allowed as prescribed through NCAA, State, SUNY, Skyline and Farmingdale State guidelines for athletic competitions/venues. The most recent announcements were made pertaining to SUNY Old Westbury Men’s and Women’s Basketball at the Walter A. Lynch Sports Center, on SUNY Farmingdale’s Campus. On Monday, November 29th, Procedures were updated on the SUNY Old Westbury’s Athletics website in regards to people attending the Old Westbury Women’s Basketball team’s game against Farmingdale on December 1st. All fans can enter the games if they provide proof of vaccination and masks must be worn at-all-times, regardless of your vaccination status, social distancing must be practiced, interaction with the players and coaches is prohibited and so is tailgating.
Photo Credit: OldWestburyPanthers.com
With the Men’s Basketball teams record being 4-2 and the Women’s basketball team losing their first game to Merchant Marine, hopefully having more fans in the stadium can boost the morale of the team and increase our chances of winning games at home. With the fall coming to an end, Sports like Volleyball, Soccer, Golf, Cross Country and Basketball have had heavy restrictions that are now slowly lifting. Unfortunately, the state of the Covid-19 presence on campus and levels of engagement can change very quickly and unexpectedly, reverting requirements back to their original levels or even worse. We all play a part in affecting that change and can do so in a positive way by following the guidelines set.
