By Donevan Aceves, Oct. 12, 2021
One month after the establishment of the spectator restriction policy for CSU sports, the CPP Athletics Department announced new modifications to the original policy. Starting Oct. 8, spectators are now able to attend volleyball games on campus under specific guidelines.
Under the new revision, additional safety precautions will be taken at Kellogg Arena to ensure a safe atmosphere for volleyball game attendees, according to Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Brian Swanson.
“We did a pilot two weeks ago with just parents of both teams, just to see how that would go so we could get a number of how many people there were. We had a couple hundred people, and everybody was very well spaced out and had their masks on and they completed the screener,” said Swanson. “We do have capacity seating that can easily accommodate 2,000 people; however, we are just going to use the bleacher side seating which seats 1,200 people and not the chair backs.”
Prior to arriving on campus, spectators are required to fill out a Guest Health Screener, then show the results to a Box Office employee for entry. Regardless of vaccination status, all spectators are required to wear masks at all times while in the arena.
Business administration student Larry Frorenza expressed excitement about heading to Kellogg Arena to support the volleyball team, regardless of the restrictions in place.
“I know COVID needs to be taken seriously, but it’s about time things started to go back to normal,” said Frorenza. “As long as the policies and restrictions work out then I think we should be allowed to support our sports teams like volleyball, especially because we haven’t been able to.”
According to Swanson, the CPP Athletics Department has paid close attention to the overall condition of the county and will continue to implement all necessary precautions needed to keep spectators safe against the COVID-19 virus. The new policy is subject to change based upon the conditions of Los Angeles County as well as the university.
As part of the effort to maintain a high standard of health on campus, the Athletics Department utilizes a Clorox Total 360 Electrostatic Sprayer machine to disinfect bleachers at Kellogg Arena after each volleyball match.
Since the team has not played for a home crowd since 2019, sophomore outside hitter Jazmyn Wheeler cannot wait to experience competing on Bronco turf.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time now and we are thrilled to have people come and watch us perform,” said Wheeler. “I think the transition to having spectators will add another element and allow our team to feed off of the crowd’s energy and have a lot of fun during the game.”
The volleyball team’s games can be streamed via the CCAA Network or the new CPP Athletics app.
Updates on attendance policies and restrictions can be found on the CPP Athletics website.
Featured image courtesy of Lyle Ibarra.