Bellingham, Blaine schools cancel athletic events for a month because of coronavirus
Bellingham Public Schools has canceled all middle and high school athletic events for the next month in an effort to help slow the spread of novel coronavirus.
The district updated its COVID-19 FAQ website on Thursday, March 12, to reflect the changes, stating that, “Governor Jay Inslee has asked all businesses and school districts to reconsider large gatherings and encourage social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
In response, the district said it would cancel or postpone all large gatherings outside of school hours (such as concerts and guest speakers), large gatherings during school hours (such as assemblies), out-of-state travel for student groups and all middle and high school athletic events through April 13.
The Blaine School District later posted to Facebook that it, too, was canceling all athletic events until April 13.
Practices still will be allowed to continue at this time, both districts said.
The spring sports season — which includes baseball, softball, boys soccer, track and field, golf and girls tennis — was supposed to begin with games on Saturday, March 14.
According to the Northwest Conference website, Bellingham High School has had 63 varsity events impacted by the decision, Sehome High School has 56 and Squalicum High School 89. Perhaps the largest is the April 11 Birger Solberg Track and Field Invitational.
Blaine has 76 events that have been canceled.
The Northwest Conference athletic directors have decided to allow individual school districts to make decisions about how to handle athletic scheduling as the region navigates the spread of the disease.
Other Whatcom County schools have had spring sports events canceled or postponed, according to the conference website, but not at the same rate as Bellingham schools — Ferndale has 55, Lynden has 44, Lynden Christian has 37, Meridian has 30, Mount Baker has 20 and Nooksack Valley has 23.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 2:24 PM.
