High school sports camps at Beckman, Tustin and Foothill can resume on Monday, Aug. 10

Beckman football coach Marcello Giuliano (second from left) leads his team in a game in the 2019 season. (File photo courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone)

Athletic camps, including football camps at high schools in the Tustin Unified School District may restart on Monday, Aug. 10, district officials said Friday.

“Our coaches and staff run a model athletics program under the guidance provided by the state,” TUSD Superintendent Dr. Gregory Franklin said in a statement. “We will continue to follow the state’s guidelines and monitor the situation for the health and safety of the athletes and staff.”

High schools in the district are Beckman, Tustin and Foothill.

Athletic camps throughout Orange County were suspended indefinitely on July 10 after guidance from state officials and local health officials in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

However this week, the California Department of Health released new guidance to allow for conditioning drills and camps to resume. No games are allowed and no close contact will be permitted, according to Tustin officials. In addition, the camps will have to be held outdoors.

When the camps reopen, they will have to follow state guidelines and safety protocols, according to Mark Eliot, director of communications and public information for the Tustin district.

Among the safety guidelines is a requirement that distancing of six feet must be followed at all times and that no equipment can be touched by more than one player without cleaning. In addition, coaches will temperature check athletes upon arrival to practice with non-touch thermometers, according to Tustin officials.

“The district has given the green light,” said Beckman football coach Marcello Giuliano. “School sites are working on logistics and each campus may start on a different schedule.”

Giuliano said he did not know yet when the Beckman football camp would resume.

CIF officials have moved the tentative starting dates of high school athletics because of the coronavirus pandemic. Boys and girls cross country, boys and girls water polo and boys and girls volleyball is scheduled to start in December with football scheduled to start in January 2021. CIF also extended summertime rules allowing for camps to continue.

CIF officials have said that students would have to be receiving on-campus instruction and health officials would have to give the OK for athletics to start. Most school districts are on a watch list because of coronavirus cases in the county and will begin school with on-line instruction.

Officials with the Irvine Unified School District indicated on Thursday that sports camps at the district’s five high schools could resume after the start of school on Thursday, Aug. 20. Officials with other school districts are also considering plans to resume camps.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com