There will be just one more weekend of high school football in front of nearly empty stands in Clark County.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that on March 18, state guidance will change allowing more spectators at sporting events.
Spectators will be allowed to attend events at outdoor venues with permanent seating with capacity capped at 25 percent.
Current guidelines allow for up to 200 people at a high school event, but that includes the participants, coaches and officials. That has led many larger schools to ban spectators completely.
The new guidelines place capacity limits specifically on spectators. So the capacity number does not include the players, coaches and officials.
At smaller stadiums in the area like Woodland, Washougal, Ridgefield and Battle Ground, spectator capacity would be capped at between 300-400.
But at larger facilities, that number could grow to more than 1,000 at Doc Harris Stadium in Camas and Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver and to around 1,600 at McKenzie Stadium. The state guidelines would require masks to be worn and it would have seating be arranged in groups of 1-8 to allow for distancing.
Individual school districts could place their own restrictions on crowds at events.
The change comes just in time for the final round of high school football games in the 2A Greater St. Helens League and 1A Trico League. Both leagues are scheduled to conclude their five-week schedules on March 19.
But fans of the 4A/3A GSHL could get to watch as many as four games. That league has games scheduled for March 18, March 23, March 27 and April 2.
The new guidance also will allow for increased attendance of indoor events from 200 to 400, provided that total does not exceed 50 percent of the gym’s capacity.
Additional restrictions lifted will allow for higher-risk indoor sports like basketball and wrestling to be played. Those sports are slated for Season 3 in the WIAA revised calendar, which won’t start until late April.
But the 4A/3A GSHL has plans for a two-season schedule, in which Season 2 would include traditional spring sports and winter sports, like basketball and wrestling. That season is slated to begin April 12.
