(KWCH) To update:
Despite new COVID-19 cases linked to youth basketball tournaments in Kansas, another MAYB tournament is still available for the weekend, and is expected to bring 4,000 players from neighboring states, representing 400 teams in Wichita.
On Thursday afternoon, Eyewitness News spoke to the tournament director, who said the games will continue as planned.
MAYB President Greg Raleigh, who has been hosting the Wichita-area grand tournament, The Summer Kickoff, for 28 years, says he knows the concerns that exist and wants to make sure people know that steps are being taken to address to organize the tournament safely.
“I feel like we’re ready to go and the teams have been notified of things I think they need to know,” said Raleigh.
He said he knows the concerns COVID-19 raises for tournaments like the MAYB summer pitch, especially after positive cases from Cloud County in north-central Kansas, but says they have taken the necessary steps to organize a safe tournament.
“Everything from temperature control to what you know, making sure we’re cleaning things up after every game,” said Raleigh. But when you look around here, we take out all the stands, so that people bring garden chairs and things to help the social distance. “We are asking people to just show up at their games. I think it is one of the most important things to limit big meetings.”
The coaches and parents who will take part in the tournament say they have some concerns, but are more concerned with teams coming from other states.
“We have avoided any trips to this point, not just as a team, but as a family,” said Scott Evans coach of the Kansas Defenders and father of one of Scott Evans’ players. “Because we want to avoid cross-contamination with what we have been exposed to in Wichita with what others have been exposed to in other parts of the country.”
Tulsa Hawks coach Evan Drake said “there is no perfect way to do it,” and he hopes other teams are taking precautions and trying to be as safe as possible.
Raleigh said all of the facilities that host games this weekend have established guidelines.
“And we are trying to do the best we can to keep the environment safe, but at the same time giving children the opportunity to play,” he said.
With the possibility of thousands of athletes and their families coming to Wichita, Sedgwick County has the legal authority to stop such an event, but county leaders say they have no plans to do so.
Sedgwick County Manager Tom Stolz said at this time that he depends on the people directly involved in the tournament.
“The more trips you have, the greater the event, the greater the risk clearly. Therefore, we are concerned about that, but as of today, we do not have a regulation that prohibits that from happening,” Stolz said. “We just hope that everyone uses their best judgment on this.”
Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell said that while the risk exists, he is confident that the organization and families will do their best.
Stolz said that if the cases stem from the MAYB tournament this weekend, the county will take the same steps it took with everything else.
“If someone tests positive, we will do what we always do. We will follow up to track them,” Stolz said. “That is a very difficult track. We have a lot of people that we have to notify. That is the risk when you have these great events with so many people to come. It is a challenge for us at heart.”
Gov. Laura Kelly issued the following statement on positive cases possibly linked to another recent tournament in Kansas:
“For the first time since we ceded control to local governments, our state’s COVID-19 disease spread numbers are on the rise. That is why my administration, along with public health officials from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, recommended on Monday that Kansas counties remain in Phase 3 of “Ad Astra: A Plan to Reopen Kansas,” which Limit mass gatherings to 45 people or less.
“We must aggressively practice the public health recommendations outlined in” Ad Astra “if we want to mitigate the spread of the virus, keep people healthy, and begin our economic recovery. Until a vaccine is widely produced and dispersed, our only defense against COVID- 19 is wearing masks in public, social distance, maintaining proper hygiene and avoiding mass gatherings.
“This is how we keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.”
While there are several positives that health officials cite with youth sports, including social and emotional development and resilience development, Dr. Paul Teran of the KU School of Medicine, Wichita said that COVID-19 It brings a situation where competitive sports tournaments could do more harm than good.
“It makes it almost impossible to make contact with everyone who was involved in it, especially when you go between counties and between states,” said Dr. Teran.
On Thursday, health departments in Ellis and Lyon County sent out notices to their communities about possible exposure to COVID-19 related to different sports tournaments.
The Ellis County notice referred to a basketball tournament in the state, while the Lyon County notice referred to a baseball tournament in Missouri.
“As much as we can, I think we should avoid all competitions with teams from different geographic areas,” said Dr. Teran.
He said it also depends on the sport.
“We should try to avoid those high-risk sports as much as possible right now,” he said, referring to a You can report to the National Federation of State High School Associations dealing with COVID-19. “There are some of them with this kind of moderate risk profile, and those that we should probably avoid unless we can find modifying factors.”
High-risk sports include soccer and wrestling. The moderate category includes basketball, baseball, softball, and volleyball.
Dr. Teran said, “High school students and teens who play sports will see that they may not get as sick, but they will pass it on to others in their family or will be in contact with others in the community.”
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The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is notifying people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 if they attended a couple of MAYB basketball tournaments last weekend.
The Ellis County Health Department said KDHE reported that three people who attended the tournaments in Hays and Wichita from June 20-21 were tested for COVID-19.
MAYB Boys Basketball Tournament
Hays Recreation Commission
Hays, Kan.
June 20: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
June 21: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MAYB Girls Basketball Tournament
Hays Recreation Commission
Hays, Kan.
June 21: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MAYB Boys Basketball Tournament
Wichita Sports Forum
Wichita, Kan.
June 20: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
June 21: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Anyone who has attended any of the tournaments during the identified days and times should be monitored for COVID-19 symptoms for up to 14 days after exposure (July 4-5).
Those symptoms include fever, cough, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, fatigue, diarrhea, and / or shortness of breath / difficulty breathing. If symptoms develop, isolate immediately and contact your healthcare provider.
KDHE will notify any person determined to be a close contact of positive cases and will be asked to quarantine for 14 days from the date of contact.
Ellis County said the positive cases are not residents.
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