Updated Oct. 4
After an interview with Lawrence Fan, associate athletics director for football communications and special projects, and offensive tackle Jack Snyder, it was revealed to the Spartan Daily that the San Jose State football program will be staying a week at Humboldt State in preparation for the upcoming season starting on Oct. 24.
According to a Sept. 30 SJSU Athletics news release, the football program is supposedly scheduled to remain at HSU until the university and Santa Clara County guidelines are aligned for the team to return to campus for standard NCAA football practice activities.
“I don’t think [my teammates will miss their girlfriends and friends], it's only a week. I think we can all go a week just focusing on football,” Snyder said over Zoom.
In response to Snyder’s comments, Fan confirmed that the plan for the football program is to stay at HSU for a week.
“That appears to be the general plan that we were looking at is a week. It could be shorter, It might be extended, but at least for now the general plan is for a week.”
Fan also said in an email to the Spartan Daily that the SJSU football program is a part of HSU’s own isolated bubble on campus.
“Humboldt State University has its ‘bubble’ and the football team has its ‘bubble’ and is isolated within Humboldt State’s ‘bubble’,” Fan said.
An Oct. 1 Humboldt County Public Health Department Q&A youtube video revealed that the department was not involved in the decision to move the SJSU football program to HSU to continue its preparations for the upcoming season.
“Public health was not part of the decision making process. I have not been contacted by San Jose State University,” part-time Humboldt County Health Officer Teresa Frankovich said. “However, I was contacted yesterday by the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Humboldt State University to let me know about the plan to move forward. They have provided a plan that San Jose State had created in their facilities and so we are reviewing that plan.”
Frankovich, having handed in her resignation on Sept. 2, is still continuing in a part-time capacity with the county.
Santa Clara County Public Health media relations said in an email to the Spartan Daily that SJSU’s motivation to resume player-contact practices is understandable. However, it also said Humboldt County, which is in the orange tier of the COVID-19 California Reopening Tracker, should reference California COVID-19 guidelines.
“We understand the desire of many sports teams to resume practice, just as many businesses are eager to resume. But our county remains in the red tier, where the risk of SARS-CoV-2 spread is considered ‘substantial’,” Santa Clara County Public Health media relations said in an email to the Spartan Daily, “The County Public Health Department must consider both the guidance issued by the State of California just last evening, as well as the local risk reduction order, to evaluate whether conditions are present that would enable an activity to safely resume.”
In the email, Santa Clara County Public Health media relations also said SJSU’s decision to move the football program to HSU is disappointing as it puts the reported 135 players, coaches and staff at risk of contracting COVID-19.
“With respect to a team holding practice in another county, we are very disappointed to see any team going outside the county to circumvent a process that was put in place to ensure the safety of its players and staff,” Santa Clara County Public Health media relations in an email to the Spartan Daily.
According to the Mountain West League schedule released on Oct. 1, the SJSU football team’s season will start Oct. 24 against Air Force at CEFCU stadium. However, SJSU will need Santa Clara County’s approval for football-related activities to play.
California’s new policy requires a written athletic facility-specific prevention plan for every facility, according to a California Department of Public Health 37-page COVID-19 guidance. The expectation is for schools to perform a comprehensive risk assessment of all work and athletic areas and designate a person at each facility to implement the plan, according to an Oct. 2 Mercury News article.
Also, the guidelines do not call for quarantines of teams when they travel out of state to play games, or in the case of SJSU, relocate to Arcata to train, according to an Oct. 2 Mercury News article.
The guidelines also state that local health officers could consider discontinuing team practices and games for the rest of the season if 10% of players on a team test positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period.
According to SJSU Athletic’s news release, since the football players returned to campus in July the university has scheduled COVID-19 testing and adheres to all county and state safety protocols. There have been only two asymptomatic cases in more than two months of testing. The SJSU football program also agreed to test players, coaches and staff every week they are in Humboldt.
In an email to the Spartan Daily, Fan said that the football players tested negative for COVID-19 before departing for Humboldt on Oct. 2.
“In their plan, they are proposing to test [everyone] before they come here, to test again shortly after they arrive and I think that will be helpful. At this time, I did not see anything in their plan about an initial quarantine period,” Frankovich said. “However, I do know that the individuals will be housed in a dormitory that will separate from the rest of the student population.”
Frankovich also said that Humboldt County needs to focus on making sure this move is seamless and that it has minimal impact on their county.
According to Humboldt County’s website, out of the 134,000 residents in the county, a total of 518 people have tested positive for COVID-19. As of the time of publication, there have been six reported new cases, while, according to Santa Clara County’s website, a total of around 21,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19.
“[It’s] on the players themselves, and obviously the university itself to enforce, behavior that is safe, that we require in Humboldt County. For instance, such as the use of facial coverings, and that is required throughout the state as well as social distancing and all those other preventive measures that we talked about,” said Frankovich.
