Youth sports practices allowed to reopen in Orange County

Costa Mesa Majors Division National Little League All-Stars

By Matt SzaboStaff Writer

June 17, 2020 5:20 PM PT

Huntington Valley Little League President Tim Stone finally felt a sense of normalcy for a few brief moments Tuesday evening.

Stone got out on the field to practice with his Minor A Division USC Trojans for the first time since the novel coronavirus pandemic struck in mid-March. He said Huntington Valley is the first of the leagues in District 62 to resume practicing, after the Orange County Board of Supervisors announced Monday that youth sports practices could reopen with social distancing protocols in place.

“I got out cones 6 feet apart from each other,” he said. “I told the kids, ‘This is what 6 feet looks like. Notice, you put your arms out and you can’t touch anybody.’ That’s how I started the practice, and we had a gas. I had fun. With the pain and agony of everything we’ve gone through, it was like, finally it’s here.”

The county has not released a timeline for games starting again, however. Stone said that many Huntington Valley Little League parents are unsure if they want to wait until late July or early August, when vacations may be planned.

“We don’t want to force people to come back to play,” Stone said. “We’re trying to offer some activities for the summer, when everything has been taken away from these kids ... [but] there’s a lot of people that can’t deal with the uncertainty. We may have to close again before we can play games.”

Costa Mesa National Little League player agent Stephanie Joyce said that the league was waiting for guidance from the county, but Monday’s announcement was “not good news.”

“Returning to practice is great, but a Little League season is about games,” she said. “We practice so that we can play games. What we’ve heard from the city is that the earliest we could get back on the fields was July 6, because we’re in a joint use agreement with the city, our league and the schools. We have to get permits to be on the field, and we don’t have permits right now because everything’s closed down.”

Joyce said Little League’s restrictions, including the wearing of masks while waiting to bat, also led to 20%-30% of CMNLL families being opposed to returning to play. She added that there are talks to at least try to salvage the Mayor’s Cup, a best-of-three Majors Division rivalry series against Costa Mesa American.

“There are challenges left and right that we’re trying to overcome,” she said. “We’re doing our very best to get them back on the fields, but with every day it’s proving more and more challenging.”

Many clubs and leagues across different sports are also running into difficulties. Costa Mesa Aquatics Club director Jose De La Jara said that he had to cancel the club’s popular summer swim program Tuesday, because the timeline for when the club can get back in the water at Costa Mesa High School is unclear.

The pool is closed while Newport-Mesa Unified School District athletic programs are currently in a two-week dead period, De La Jara said, and July 6 is also the earliest date that CMAC could begin practicing again. However, pool maintenance could push that time frame back into August.

“We’re kind of screwed at this point,” he said.

Huntington Beach Pop Warner President Hector Martinez said he expects that the Orange Empire Conference football season could be delayed a bit, but he is hopeful that teams will be out on the fields at Edison High sometime in July. Until this point, camps have been canceled.

“They’re all so anxious,” Martinez said. “Everything’s difficult, but we’re trying to take all of the precautions they’re asking us to ... Really, coaching becomes that much more essential. You have to be that much more prepared and ready, in all sports, not only football. Those that really have a program will still be successful. Those that don’t, it’s going to be tough. You have to make sure everything is well-organized. Once they give us the go, you’re not going to have that much time.”

Prime Volleyball Club director Jessica Papell said her club began individual and small group training this week. The club is based in Laguna Niguel and Ladera Ranch but has drawn athletes from Newport Beach-area schools, including Sage Hill alumni Jade Blevins and Amiyah De’Long, now at Cal and Stony Brook University, respectively.

“It’s nice to get back in the gym with them on a limited basis,” said Papell, also the girls’ volleyball coach at San Juan Hills High. “We’re trying to offer a bunch of summer training, to kind of make up for the training the kids missed over the last three months.”

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