San Diego judge rules high school sports can return under same protocols as pro and college sports
Just hours after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a path for outdoor high-contact high school sports to return across the state, a San Diego County judge went a step further.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Earl Maas granted a temporary restraining order Friday afternoon allowing youth athletes to participate in sports "as long as they follow the same or similar COVID-19 protocols imposed for competition in professional and/or collegiate sports within the County." KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman was the first to report the ruling.
In his ruling, the judge cited evidence from UCSF Professor of Medicine Dr. Gandhi and her writings on immunology, AIDS and COVID.
"She states to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the rate of virus transmission in high school sports is equal to or less than that observed in Major League Baseball and National Football League studies," Maas wrote in his ruling. "Children are less likely to develop severe illness or die from COVID and are less commonly infected with SARS-COV-2 than adults."
Nearly three weeks ago, Nicholas Gardinera of Scripps Ranch High School and Cameron Woolsey of Mission Hills High School and their guardians filed a lawsuit against Gov. Newsom that alleged that not being able to play football during their senior seasons robbed them of the opportunity to secure a Division I college scholarship.
Other defendants in the case are the County of San Diego, Wilma J. Wooten (San Diego Public Health Officer), and the California Department of Public Health.
