Handling COVID Vaccines

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Jun 1, 2015
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When I operate my summer rec. team, I begin practices at the start of May, and players/parents fill out a registration packet (basic info., code of conduct, and health information). Last season (2021), in the beginning, vaccines were not available yet for the 12-18 group. Players were eventually getting them during the season, and I never asked who did/didn't get the vaccine nor did I require it to participate (parents ended up telling me on their own so I was aware, which I appreciated). The town where our field is had its own requirements (masks, social distancing, sanitizing property, etc.), so I defaulted to them, and all worked out well.

This year, with vaccines being readily available and the increase of the newest variant, I feel the same requirements may return (masks, etc). While I don't plan to mandate vaccines, I'm curious of a couple of things:

1.) How other coaches are handling the matter (vaccines) - Do you require knowledge, copies of vaccine cards, or nothing at all?
2.) As part of my "health information" questionnaire, would I be within reason to ask, "Has your child received have a C-19 vaccine?" with choices of "Yes, No, or Yes and a Booster" (specifying that vaccine status would not impact eligibility to play)

(My primary reason for asking - if a mandate/requirement comes down that says "vaccinated" individuals do not have to mask but unvaccinated do, I would want to know who needs to mask up. Again, it would never be held against them, it's more for "CYA" purposes.)

Additionally:
3.) If a player/parent says they "are" vaccinated but it's later discovered they lied/are not vaccinated, how would you handle this? Above all else, player safety is 100% important to me, and these parents/individuals may have endangered my entire team due to their personal choices. I would hate for my entire team to have to be quarantined for any length of time due to the actions of another.

No intention to cause any controversies here whatsoever - I know it's a delicate topic - just looking for some good banter and ideas. Thanks. :)
 
Jul 5, 2016
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Tough one. Given the strongly held opinions on the matter, wouldn't it be best to say that everybody wears a mask unless you know that everybody is vaccinated. It is a team, after all. I would think there might be some awkwardness if some are exempted from wearing masks.
 
Jun 1, 2015
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Last year, 13 of 15 of my girls attended the school where our main field was (call it "DH"), but we also split time at another field ("SB") in a different town. Town "DH" (where we are now) does not care what we do ("as long as you keep track of everything, you're okay") but Town "SB" made us sanitize everything, fill out "risk forms" each practice, you name it.

I had a small group of ladies (2-3) who wore masks even though we weren't required to at our main field for practices, etc. I never said anything about it - their choice ultimately. As you said, it's going to be tricky. Ultimately, I have to follow what the Town says, so I'm trying to prepare for a worst-case scenario. It's a double-edged sword: You feel like you're targeting the ones without a vaccine (by masking them if others are free) but you also feel like you're targeting the vaccinated ones (by masking them if they aren't needed), etc.
 
Oct 11, 2010
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Chicago, IL
I have all the shots, I would probably die if I caught the virios without the shots. Lucky have never caught any of them because I am very careful.

DD I am not so worried about. She might be knocked down for a week and she will be fine. Argument in our house.
 
Apr 1, 2017
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("as long as you keep track of everything, you're okay")

What does that even mean? I'm not the health department, or a doctor. I haven't asked anyone on the team what their vaccination records are. I know through conversations that some of the players are vaccinated, a few aren't, some ???.

As a team, we will follow whatever rules are given to us by the location/facility we are using.

My entire family has had the shots. For me, that's the end of it. My family has done what we can to protect ourselves from the virus. I don't view unvaccinated people like they are some weapon that is out to harm me.
 
May 2, 2018
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Central Virginia
I'm curious how you (as a rec coach) can mandate anything.

Does your league/county/city/state not have guidelines for this? Why do you feel like it is up to you?

Sorry but if a coach (or league) asked me for my kids vaccination status in order to play that would be a hard pass.

Also, this thread is a can of worms. Good luck.
 
Apr 17, 2019
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Our org has taken the stance that we're going to follow the requirements dictated by the relevant gov't authorities. Anything above and beyond that we impose, then our org could be held legally responsible for compliance; or open ourselves to challenges (legal or just unnecessary arguments) as to the need for an 'arbitrary' rule. So if the gov't doesn't require masks, we're not requiring masks. If the gov't doesn't require us to ask, we're not going to ask.
 
May 20, 2015
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our rec league has followed state CDC & USA softball guidelines - none have done anything with vaccines

is there a CHANCE that a venue or tournament might require vaccinations? i guess it is possible?
 
Jun 20, 2015
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what a cluster flop. indoors and crowds have been proven as to where this spreads. Outdoors is not. pretty simple. wear mask if you want to, not requiring it and never will. Nor will I be asking vaccination status of player, coach, fans, etc.

vaccines are very good at keeping all from getting sick and super good at keeping people out of hospital and even better about keeping people from being dead. That's the important part.
 
Jun 1, 2015
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Sorry but if a coach (or league) asked me for my kids vaccination status in order to play that would be a hard pass.

You did not read where I said, "...specifying that vaccine status would not impact eligibility to play". I'm not going to hold something like this against a girl, likely because there are many kids who DO want the vaccine but whose parents refuse to let them get it (and I'm sure vice versa as well).

What does that even mean?

It meant that said town did not require any restrictions (no masks, no logs of attendees, etc) to use their field - literally what I typed was what they told me. They were very lax about the matter, to my surprise. Many local towns had much more stringent policies in place.

The whole purpose of this is to prepare for a situation where this MAY become necessary information due to local/town regulations. As a coach, I'd rather be proactive than reactive. I'm not asking for copies of cards or divulging anything. If it meant everyone has to wear masks, I'm fine with that. I'd rather have safe and healthy players for everyone's sake vs. anything else.
 
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