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Parks staff outline COVID plan-of-action process for meets and travel events; indoor competition remains limited
Summary
County parks staff described the plan-of-action process used to vet out-of-scope events such as gymnastics meets and tournaments, explained that plans require county nurse and administrator review, and clarified that outdoor school fields are now available for county leagues while indoor full-contact competition (not clinics) remains restricted.
St. Mary's County Parks and Recreation staff described a written plan-of-action process for events that fall outside regular program scope, saying it requires health input, an approved timeline and event-specific assurances before the county will provide staff support or facility access.
"Meet host assures compliance, filing consultation with the Saint Mary's County Nurse, a timeline and all those things that are involved," Mr. Shepherd said while reviewing a sample plan-of-action for a gymnastics meet. He said these plans go first to staff and then to the county administrator for signature when required.
Shepherd explained that the plan covers events that change the normal scope of activity (for example, hosting a multi-team tournament rather than routine league play) and that, in many cases, league organizers must provide assurances for visiting teams and out-of-county participants. "If you're inviting people in your plan of action, you would have to show assurance that you're taking care of those things," he said.
Staff said outdoor school fields are now available to county leagues, which provides crucial practice time, but indoor, close-contact competitions are still restricted by statewide orders and facility capacity rules. Shepherd summarized state guidance: "the governor the order says in youth sports that indoors there's capacity 50% in recreation center and it's masks and it's clinic style workouts, not competition." He added that clinics, drills and limited practices may be possible in department-managed facilities under a plan of action, but full indoor seasons and competitions remain constrained.
The department also outlined tracking and contact-tracing practices and said it has had limited COVID impacts at department sites; staff reported no service interruptions at some facilities and a small number of quarantines for individuals with exposure. Practice and program limits, reservation systems for lap swim and other operational changes remain in place.
Ending: Staff said they will continue to accept event-specific plans of action, coordinate with the county nurse and return to commissioners if broader policy changes are needed or if the department will not provide staff support for a requested off-site event.
