BMX News has been monitoring the re-open guidelines for states across the United States. This weekend, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity released “Phase-Three” guidelines for 10 different industries to re-open. This directly impacts Illinois BMX.
Illinois is our home state and, honestly, Phase-3 happened more quickly than we thought.
Close neighbor, Indiana, has been on a defined course of re-opening for the past few weeks; BMX tracks there are now practicing and racing, with their latest guidelines actually moved EARLIER, to May 24, for Memorial Day weekend.
The new guidelines allow “drills, practices and lessons,” which seem to include BMX Tracks.
Here are some of the specifics (the full document is linked below):
Youth sports (drills, practices and lessons only, no competitive games are allowed in phase three)
• Indoor facilities are limited to 50% capacity.
• Participants should wash hands before participating.
• Team/group sizes limited to 10 people or fewer. Multiple groups are permitted provided there is space for 30 feet of distance between groups. Teams/groups must remain static, no changing of groups.
• Organizers should dedicate an area for spectators. Spectators are not permitted unless required for parental supervision or if space allows for social distancing.
• No post-activity snacks or handshakes.
• Participants should bring their own water.
• Participants are encouraged to wear face coverings.
• Participants should use their own equipment and avoid touching shared equipment such as goal posts or flags.
All the above being said, these guidelines are issued at the STATE level. Each county and, indeed, each municipality has the ability to follow their own guidelines, and keep their parks closed, if they see-fit.
As we all know, most BMX tracks are on park district land, so these state guidelines may vary from track to track.
Illinois has NINE active tracks at-present, so if you are in the Land of Lincoln, check your track’s Facebook page (links below) for the latest information on when you can come out to practice.
See you at the track!
—Mike
