Green Country School Districts Work To Prepare Stadiums For Fall Sports

Athletic Directors at schools in Green Country said it's challenging to come up with plans to physical distance fans while keeping players safe.

Some schools like Jenks and Sapulpa said they're limiting ticket sales and many others are requiring fans to wear masks.

They hope fans will follow these safety measures to help students actually have a season this year.

Sapulpa Athletic Director Michael Rose said like many other Green Country schools, they've put a lot of effort into planning for fall sports this year.

"Anything that they can do social distancing wearing a mask, following those protocols will greatly help us," said Athletic Director Michael Rose. 

Sapulpa asks fans to wear masks, and is encouraging people to sit six feet apart, like what was required at graduation. They’re also limiting capacity at football games to 50%.

"We're not going to do reserved tickets this year, so it's going to be a Monday, Tuesday Wednesday selling schedule of each week of each home game,” said Rose.

Jenks Athletic Director Tony Dillingham said they've spent a lot of time talking with other athletic directors to make sure they're all on the same page.

"We aren’t reinventing the wheel here,” said Jenks Athletic Director, Tony Dillingham. “We are taking ideas and concepts from each other as athletic directors and in athletic departments, but certainly good ideas come from those parents as well and we are wide open to listening"

Jenks plans to sell all its tickets ahead of time but is limiting seating capacity to less than 50%.

On the home side, they'll have about 2,000 tickets available for season ticket holders only. Then in the south end zone, Jenks plans to have the band, and a small section of about 500 students will be allowed.

Visiting schools will get 1,000 tickets to sell the week of the game.

“Really our goal would be for our varsity football events, we will sell no tickets at our ticket gate at all,” said Jenks Athletic Director Tony Dillingham.

Dillingham said players and coaches will also have room to spread out on the sidelines and so will the cheerleaders and the pom squad.

Both Dillingham and Rose said they just hope fans will do their part, so athletes can stay in the game.

"We see how important it is for our kids not only from the mindset but also the health and wellness portion of getting to participate in activities that mean so much to them,” said Dillingham.

Many schools are planning to live stream their games online for fans who can't come.