CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Two local stadiums still are tackling COVID-19 precautions even as the high-school football season stretches into, or just beyond, the halfway point in the season depending on school sizes.
“I think we’ve really tried hard," said CCISD Senior Director for Athletics Brenda Marshall, who oversees operations at Cabaniss Field and Buccaneer Stadium. "We’re not perfect, but I guarantee you our staff has tried very hard.”
Groups of three people can sit together at Cabaniss Field. Blue tape marks seats that are to remain empty for social-distancing purposes.
A similar system is in place at Sinton High School's stadium: The difference is that blue tape marks where groups of two, three, and four people are allowed to sit.
Little discrepancies like that are why Sinton ISD officials said there was confusion at the beginning of the season that football fans have now overcome.
"Every school district had it set up a different way," SISD Director of Operations Eddie Hesseltine said. "Some places you were supposed to sit on the tape. Some places you weren’t supposed to sit on the tape. But people want to do right, so now, as we’ve gone on and played six or seven games, they understand how important it is and they know what to do."
SISD also requires fans to sanitize their hands before entering the stadium, and to wear masks throughout the game. They're measures Hesseltine doesn't expect to relax any time soon.
“I don’t see it happening this year," he said of possibly easing COVID-19 restrictions. "I can see this all the way to the state-championship game, and I think it’s just the new normal for right now.”
Fans can remove their masks when they reach their seats at Cabaniss Field, but socially-distant seating remains -- and will continue to -- for the foreseeable future.
“You cannot let up," Marshall said. "We're halfway through the season, but we need to be as diligent as we were the first week of the season.”