ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A combination of COVID-19 metrics that are improving and more people getting vaccinated has led St. Louis County to ease up on some of its sports restrictions.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced Wednesday morning tournaments can return for both youth sports and adult leagues. However, there will be several restrictions in place to limit the number of people in one place at a time and the number of people interacting with each other.
Tournaments can happen with single-competition games, meaning only two teams can be on a court or field at a time. Those two teams – and their fans – must leave before the next two teams arrive. Tournaments with multiple games going on at the same time in the same room aren’t part of this easing of restrictions.
Also, teams from outside the St. Louis region can now play in the county, as long as they follow the county’s COVID-19 guidelines. Prior to Wednesday, teams were limited to playing competitors from inside the county and a few surrounding counties, like Jefferson, St. Charles and the Metro East.
The county’s coronavirus guidelines mandates players wear masks even when they’re physically active if they’re competing indoors. If the competition is outside, it’s not required. Fans also must wear masks, and there are limits on the number of spectators at games. Social distancing also must continue to be practiced.
You can read the full guidelines on youth sports here and on adult sports here.
You can watch Page's full Wednesday briefing in the video player below:
St. Louis County first put youth sports restrictions into place back in September due to clusters of coronavirus cases the health department "linked directly to sports practices or games.”
As of Tuesday, there have been 86,694 COVID-19 cases and 1,852 deaths in the county. The seven-day moving average of new cases per day dipped below 200 this week for the first time since October.
