Winter Sports Update ~ Dec 21, 2020
Hello Winter Sports Fans,
I hope this message finds you and your family healthy and safe. Although there have been some hurdles and obstacles to overcome, the winter sports season for the Portage Community School District has functioned fairly well under very challenging circumstances. I commend our student-athletes and coaches for all of their extra efforts, sacrifices, and dedication to our safety protocols. Without those cooperative efforts, our seasons would not be possible.
Since August, it has been an extreme joy seeing our student-athletes and coaches engage in education-based athletics under very difficult circumstances. Students have been extremely appreciative of the opportunities they have been given to participate in these activities, and I have shared their excitement level on a daily basis. The purpose of this letter is to keep parents of winter athletes, and community members, as well informed as possible as the season continues.
With all winter sports occurring indoors, there have been many additional obstacles and logistical challenges that we have faced, with the main one being attempting to limit the amount of people in our facilities for competitions. By prohibiting spectators, we understand how difficult it was for parents to miss their children’s opportunity to participate in the sports that they enjoy. Although many families did not agree with our spectator restrictions, they were for the benefit of everyone, but most of all, our student-athletes. In early November, the district shared our spectator restrictions, and we said at that time that we would re-evaluate the situation in late December to make a decision on our spectator policy going forward. At this point, the Portage Community School District has decided to allow parents into our home sporting events, beginning on Friday, January 8th. In communication with other conference schools, many others will be adopting this policy as well. The Portage Athletic Department will make sure to get information to coaches on expectations that will be in place for our road games going forward in January and February.
The following procedure will be used for admittance into Portage home games this year:
- Each Portage player will be allowed to have two immediate family members in attendance at all home games
- Families will submit the names of their two attendees to the athletic office the day before the game
- If you have a multiple household family, please contact the athletic office directly to make arrangements for additional admissions into the game
- There will be no ticket or passes issued - Only names submitted to the athletic office will be allowed into the game
- Event staff will check names at the door prior to admittance to the gym
- Masks must be worn at all time and social distancing between families must be maintained
- There will be no visiting fans through at least 1-21-20 (That policy will be re-evaluated as we get closer to that date.)
The Portage Community School District will continue to work and improve live broadcasts of our home events. We understand that there have been some issues at times with our live streaming, but please be assured that we are doing everything in our power to provide these broadcasts in some capacity. As many of you have noticed, when one system has failed we have gone to “Plan B” and in some cases “Plan C” to give our families and community something. We know you truly treasure these moments and experiences of your child, and we thank you for your cooperation and understanding, and we apologize for those moments when things have not gone as planned.
In closing, I wish you the best, and I look forward to the rest of the winter sports season.
GO WARRIORS!
Sincerely,
Ed Carlson
Activities Director
(608) 742-8545 ext. 1010
carlsone@portage.k12.wi.us
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