DENVER | In his regular press conference on the state of COVID-19 in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday he would be “thrilled” to work with the Colorado High School Activities Association on a plan for a potential high football season in the fall.
On the same day he announced the approval of a plan by the Denver Broncos to allow 5,700 fans — divided into cohorts of 175 — into Empower Field at Mile High for the Broncos’ Sept. 27 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Polis said he looks forward to hearing a new proposal from CHSAA about the potential to play football this fall.
CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green communicated with member schools over the Labor Day holiday that the state’s governing body would be in contact with Polis’ office this week and expects a possible update by Thursday.
Polis said he would glad to work with CHSAA provided that any new proposal from its Board of Directors includes the possibility for districts around the state to play either in the fall or in the spring (Season C), which is currently where the football season falls in CHSAA’s new calendar. Boys golf, boys tennis, cross country and softball are currently the only active fall sports.
“It’s not just about professional football today; we really treasure high school athletics,” Polis said. “I’ve talked with CHSAA several times in the last few days. We want to work with them. If their Board moves forward and wants to propose a fall season for CHSAA football, we would be thrilled to work with them to make that happen for the districts that are ready to go.”
Polis said that not every school district in Colorado — some of which are still putting plans in place for a return to in-person school — so he wants those districts to be able to play in Season C (beginning in February of 2021) if that’s what worked best for them.
In a statement on CHSAANow.com, CHSAA said it would provide an update when it had one.
— Brittany Bowlen, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the Denver Broncos, joined Polis at the press conference and laid out plans for the team to play in front of fans in their third game of the season, which will be against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sept. 27.
The season home opener, a Monday Night game against the Tennessee Titans Sept. 14, will be used as a runthrough to be ready for the game with fans. Bowlen said a lottery among season ticketholders would be conducted for the opportunity to purchase tickets for the Tampa Bay game, with odds weighted on the priority number of the ticketholders. If selected, they would have an opportunity to go online and purchase tickets or if they chose not to, the chance would move on to the next season ticketholder.
On game days, facemasks will be required, seating will be socially distanced and fans will be seated in pods, where they will use the restrooms and concession stands (which are now touchless and cashless) in their designated area. Bowlen said Empower Field has gone through changes in infrastructure and revised its sanitation practices in light of the pandemic.
— Later in September, Apple and Google will provide an anonymous app on Apple and Android smartphones that is designed to help for earlier detection of possible exposure to COVID-19. If a user chooses to activate the EN Express app (which will be part of an update on iOs systems and an app to download on Android), their phone will exchange anonymous “tokens” with other phones they are near for an extended period of time. If a user tests positive for the coronavirus, they will be given a key to unlock their tokens, which will activate the tokens on the phones they were near and send a push notification to the owner to call his or her local health organization to about getting tested.
— Mesa, Gilpin and Rio Rancho counties have achieved “Protect Our Neighbors” phase, which Polis said allows them greater flexibility with their reopening plans. It is a reflection of lower overall incidents of COVID-19 as well as confidence in local public health organizations and their ability to quickly move on potential problems.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
