SAN JOSE — San Jose State sports administrators spent Monday canceling basketball games and trying to find a place for the school’s undefeated football team to practice and finish the rest of the Mountain West Conference season.
Athletic director Marie Tuite said administrators would have a plan within the coming days for football and basketball in response to Santa Clara County’s tough new restrictions that limit sports team activities. The San Francisco 49ers announced Monday they would play their next two games in Arizona.
The Spartans (4-0), who were off Monday, have little time to prepare for Hawaii (3-3) this weekend after having the past two games canceled because of COVID-19 issues. Coach Brent Brennan said Hawaii presents “an incredible challenge while we figure out where we are going to practice, where we are going to play. So there is no shortage of challenges for us to face and overcome.”
Santa Clara County’s new COVID-19 restrictions went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday and will last until Dec. 21. The guidelines include a three-week ban on all professional, collegiate and high school sports, a mandatory quarantine for those traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away and new capacity limits for indoor businesses. Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested Californians could face a more restrictive stay-at-home order in the coming days.
SJSU officials canceled the season opener Wednesday night for the men’s basketball team because playing at Pepperdine in Malibu is beyond the 150-mile travel radius. Tuite said the Spartans would have had to quarantine for 14 days if they made the trip.
The team has three home games need to be moved or canceled.
The football team, off to its best start since 1955, has faced one coronavirus-related obstacle after another. It had its two most recent games canceled because of COVID-19 issues, including Saturday at Boise State. The Spartans did not learn about the cancellation until after arriving in Idaho.
The team also did not play Fresno State the previous week because the Bulldogs had to cancel.
San Jose State was scheduled to end the regular season at home against Nevada (5-1) on Dec. 11. Like the Hawaii game, that contest must be played outside Santa Clara County. The Spartans also cannot play host to the Mountain West Championship on Dec. 19 should they reach the finale.
Tuite said Humboldt State, the place SJSU trained before the season started, is on her list. But Hawaii currently is not, despite being home to the Spartans’ next opponent.
She told the Bay Area News Group that the school is considering “just about any stadium that can handle the media and TV requirements. That’s the big challenge — the infrastructure of the stadium.”
Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith offered a blunt assessment for South Bay teams trying to relocate to avoid the new restrictions: “If leaders want to protect their teams and communities, they should not play anywhere until it is safe. One might envision a reemergence of team-building if the teams spent their time building a COVID relief fund for the community rather than trying to put the community at more risk.”
Tuite did not address Smith’s remarks directly but said public health officials laid out what the Spartans needed to do to practice and play and “that is what we’ve done.”
Brennan said he hoped the school could find a site where his players could “keep a little bit of their normal routine. However it works out, it works out. People got to do what they’ve got to do.”
Almond writes for the (San Jose) Mercury News