Limited School Sports Resume At Some OKC Metro School Districts

Some Oklahoma City metro student athletes will head back to practice with COVID-19 safety precautions in place.

Starting Monday, Oklahoma City, Norman, Moore and Yukon Public Schools will all have athletes back at practice with restrictions.  

Those and other districts each decided to put precautions in place and phase athletes back in slowly after the OSSAA, the state board that oversees school sports, rejected their own multi-phased plan.

The OSSAA's decision meant summertime activities could start as normal on June 1. Many districts in the OKC metro held off and put a different plan in place. 

Moore's athletic director says their staff used the OSSAA's failed plan as a framework to create their guidelines. Those include limiting where people can gather, asking students to bring masks and allowing fall athletes in 7-12 grades to start practice. 

"We want to try to do the best job we can to make sure they're prepared," said Moore Athletic Director, Brian Fitzgerald. "Obviously it's going to be different to than any other summer they've experienced, any other summer we've experienced as administrators, coaches, teachers. But we are going to make the best of it and come out on the other side."

Moore will slowly bring back fall, spring and winter athletes in the coming weeks. Fitzgerald said these practices are voluntary. 

Most of the districts have their plans posted on their social media pages or websites.