Utah State Athletics To Begin Phased Re-Opening Of Facilities

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State Athletics announced a comprehensive plan to re-open its facilities for voluntary individual workouts for football players beginning Monday.

The announcement came after the decisions by the NCAA Division I Council and the Mountain West Conference to allow the resumption of in-person voluntary workouts at on-campus facilities.

Included in the plan, other student-athletes will be able to return later this summer in a phased approach.

Utah State Athletics has collaborated with the university, state and local health officials as well as state leadership to develop a comprehensive plan that is designed to provide the highest level of care for health and safety to student-athletes, staff and the campus community.

They're comin' home! Here's how we plan to welcome our student-athletes back to campus and prepare for the fall! #AggiesAllTheWay

🏡 > https://t.co/AcsAAGNSFo

— USU Football (@USUFootball) June 15, 2020

When student-athletes return to campus, they will be evaluated for clearance by the USU medical staff. Student-athletes will be continuously monitored and will be expected to adhere to a number of safety protocols, consistent with federal and local public guidelines.

Re-opening the facilities will allow student-athletes to utilize on-campus weight rooms and athletic training facilities on a voluntary basis. Utah State has outlined policies to keep the safety of student athletes and staff the No. 1 priority. The policies include the following:

• Student-athletes will be required to do a 14-day quarantine and be tested for COVID-19.
• Signs and symptoms, including temperature checks will be administered to student-athletes and staff upon arrival at the facility each day. Those individuals that have been cleared will be issued wristbands by appropriate medial staff.
• Student-athletes will be required to make an appointment to utilize weight rooms and athletic training facilities, and face coverings will be required when within six feet of others.
• All equipment and facilities will be thoroughly sanitized after each use.
• Locker rooms facilities will not be available to student-athletes.

The plan outlines protocols for handling positive tests of student-athletes and staff, and is centered on the goals of creating safe and manageable return groups of student-athletes and staff, decentralizing potential areas of congestion and cross-contamination amongst teams and student-athletes and creating contact tracing system within the department.

These protocols are designed to maintain low risk for exposure while managing contact tracing at a high level. Also, develop departmental baselines and manageable work groups for those directly working with the student-athletes, and establish a culture of compliance and social awareness to build long-term success.

The success within each phase will continue to guide the approach to subsequent phases, as greater numbers of student-athletes will be welcomed back on campus in the safest possible manner.