Youth baseball and softball will be allowed to resume in Nebraska starting June 1st, but it will be under strict health and social distancing guidelines.
At his daily COVID-19 coronavirus briefing on Monday, Governor Pete Ricketts announced that baseball and softball practices will be allowed beginning June 1st, while games can start on June 18th.
Ricketts says the state is providing social distancing protocols for the sports, including rules on not sharing equipment. "Players need to use their own bats, gloves, helmets, to the extent possible. Players need to be spread out and coaches got to work on this during practice. Doing that six foot distancing." Players will also need to provide their own drinks and snacks.
Ricketts emphasizes that this will only be for baseball and softball. "Again, we want to step into this slowly and see how it works. Those are sports that are generally more socially distant." He adds that sports like tennis, even doubles, is still okay, due to the distanced nature of the game.
In addition to the players' guidelines, there are also rules in place for parents and family members. "For practice, when parents show up they can drop the players off, but then they gotta get back in the car. During games, you have to spread out. Bleachers will not be used for fans, they'll just be used for players. Fans will be limited during games to only household members." The governor adds that fans must bring their own chairs or stand during games, and they must still stay six feet apart from other families.