The latest guidelines for high school sports in Santa Clara County left a lot of student athletes disappointed Wednesday.
They are still among the most restrictive in the state and now players and coaches are worried about possibly missing out on college scholarships.
Athletes at King’s Academy were able to train outside but not play any games.
"My heart is just so heavy, because I love these kids so much,” said athletic director Joe Maemone.
He said the students miss the games, but are also missing out on opportunities for college scholarships.
"We have a couple of juniors that have the potential to be division one players, and they don't have any tape their junior year, which is a pivotal year,” said Maemone. “So for them, we're hoping to get something, even give us three games, four games."
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The new rules say athletes must stay 25 feet apart, and if inside, are not allowed to be in the same room.
"It's pretty discouraging realizing I probably only have one more season left," said St. Francis High School junior Hadley Haselden.
For student athletes, it's another letdown in what has been a tough junior year.
"And every season you get closer to 18 you get sadder and sadder about it being only one more season, and this was gonna be our second to last season together anyways,” said Haselsen.
County officials admit that these current rules are more strict than for the rest of the state. They say the situation is constantly being re-evaluated, based on the COVID-19 numbers.
Editor's Note: Santa Clara County offered the following statement regarding updates to the guidelines after the video above's air time.
Today, to address confusion regarding the State and County directives regarding youth sports, the County updated and consolidated its directives to make clear that (1) competitions between teams is allowed in Santa Clara County to the same degree as allowed by the State, and (2) youth sports teams and other outdoor youth activities are not limited to 16-member cohorts. The updated directives will be available on the site.
The State’s rules only allow certain sports to be played in counties in the Purple Tier, including Santa Clara County. The State’s rules specifying what sports may be played are available here.
