ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Middle school students will be able to play all sports and they are also cleared to go back to in-person learning, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced Wednesday. And some high school sports can resume, but not all.
Under the new guidelines that go into effect Monday, middle school students will be able to participate in both moderate-contact and high-contact sports.
The County Council will vote on a bill that would give them more oversight on the guidelines Tuesday night.
Page also recommended middle school age students return to in-person learning but left the decision with individual school districts.
"We understand that many of our schools have worked hard to create virtual learning opportunities, and transitioning back to in-person learning is complicated and difficult," Page said.
High school students will be allowed to participate in moderate-contact sports, like soccer and baseball. However, they will not be able to participate in high-contact sports, including football and basketball.
"It's been a lot of conversation with different schools. We've been anticipating that we were going to play. We've been talking to folks to secure facilities, transportation and problems with our officials," said Parkway Athletic Director Mike Roth.
Two spectators per athlete will be allowed at outdoor competitions, but overall capacity is limited to 50 people.
Across all age levels and sports, there are still no tournaments, performances, competitions, or showcases permitted, such as bracket-style play where multiple teams play back-to-back, according to the guidelines.
The positivity rate among 15 to 19-year-olds has dropped from 20% to around 7% in the last few weeks, Page said.
"This means more of those adolescents are getting tested and more of those test results are coming back negative," he said. "Those are the kind of results that we want to see. We need to see it continue. We need to see kids continue to get tested."
Page said he expects to make more announcements regarding high school athletics in the coming weeks.
"If we continue this downward trajectory of positivity rates, testing numbers and other indicators among adolescents and our community in general, we expect that in the next two or three weeks they can issue a document that sets up conditions for high-contact, high school sports to be played safely in our community," he said.
The county posted youth sports guidelines on its website.
