SDMA Spectator Event Guidelines

SDMA Spectator Event Guidelines
Posted on 09/11/2020

Hello SDMA Families, Staff, and Community Members,

Thank you all for being patient as the school district works to develop policies regarding co-curricular and athletic events. This has not been an easy process considering the health and safety of the community while collaborating with the health department, Big Rivers Conference (BRC), WIAA, and UW Stout. Despite many challenges, the school district is pleased to be able to offer a number of extra-curricular activities for students this fall.

The BRC released information this week in an effort to develop some consistency between schools on several items, but each school district is still responsible for working with local health departments to develop local policies. The BRC press release created some confusion in the region, so the school district is hoping to explain how this will impact SDMA events and give more details regarding the different sports and venues. 

Spectator attendance at BRC events this fall has been restricted to parents/guardians of the home school only, and in accordance with recommendations from the Dunn County Health Department, only the events in the School District of the Menomonie Area (SDMA) that cannot be live streamed will be open for parent spectators. This includes the varsity football games scheduled to be played on the UW Stout campus. In accordance with an agreement made with UW Stout to allow games on campus this fall, spectators will not be allowed to attend events at Don & Nona Williams Stadium.

For any SDMA events unable to be live streamed, two (2) parents/guardians per player will be allowed to attend. Live streaming will be available for as many events as possible this fall (including the lower levels when feasible), so most events in the SDMA will be conducted without spectators. The school district will try to live stream some away games as well, but the host schools should also have the events available on their respective websites. The new SDMA live streaming channels are already posted on the school district website, and a full schedule of the live streamed events will be posted as soon as possible.

Due to the number of teams competing, the final home cross country meet on Saturday will not be open to spectators, but the meet will be live streamed by WRDN. Please tune in to watch by going to the WRDN youtube channel. Swimming and Dive team events will not have any spectators allowed due to space availability in the pool, but these events will also be live streamed. 

Parents allowed to attend school events that are not live streamed will be required to social distance and wear face coverings for both indoor and outdoor events. Parents are expected to arrive no more than 30 minutes prior to the start of the event and are expected to leave immediately following the contest. Tailgating, loitering outside of events, or other social gatherings on school district or university grounds will not be allowed. Concessions will not be available at events, but water bottles or non-alcoholic beverages in plastic containers are allowed. Please do not bring any large bags or coolers. 

These spectator policies will be reviewed and may be adjusted during season depending on the changing needs of the community, but it is important that parents and community members do a good job following these restrictions. Failure to follow the established protocols could put the health and safety of SDMA students and staff at risk, and could jeopardize the school district’s ability to continue hosting competitive activities. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding while we navigate through these difficult times. 

Sincerely,

Joe Zydowsky