COLORADO, USA — A limited number of spectators will be allowed to attend the high school state championship football games this weekend at Colorado State University (CSU) Pueblo.
The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) said on its website that the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) sent a letter to CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green Monday night about the change.
CDPHE said they "modified its position on spectators to allow a maximum of 75 spectators in the stands, per team, which is the limit of the outdoor seated events guidance provided in Public Health Order 20-36 COVID-19 Dial."
CHSAA had petitioned CDPHE to reconsider its amended variance last week, which would have disallowed spectators at the championship games.
Last week, CDPHE said in a release the 2020 state high school football championship would be limited to football teams, athletic staff, cheerleaders, band members, broadcast staff and other essential personnel.
The association said that individual schools would handle the distribution of tickets.
"As a public health agency, we are trying to balance mitigation of disease spread, but also acknowledge that some parents may choose to transport their children to the game," CDPHE executive director Jill Hunsaker Ryan wrote in the letter according to CHSAA.
Ryan also outlined the following guidelines:
- Non-household groups must maintain 6 feet of distance
- The groups of 75 must enter and exit through different egresses
- They must utilize different facilities, such as restrooms, to "fully keep these two groups as separate events"
- All spectators (along with non-active participants, coaches, officials and staff) must wear masks, without exception.
CHSAA Championship Weekend will feature all seven football championship games at one location for the first time in the 100-year history of the Association. The games will still be played Dec. 4-5 at the Neta and Eddie De Rose ThunderBowl at the CSU-Pueblo campus.
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