LAUSD nears giving approval for athletes to return to campuses for workouts

Trent Cornelius, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s coordinator of athletics, said Monday “we will be able to condition soon” during a video conference meeting with City Section football coaches.

Nov. 2 is the tentative return date to use school sports facilities but that remains undecided. Cornelius said “we’re very close” to getting approval for athletes to begin conditioning. “We’re not quite there yet,” he said.

The workouts would be voluntary. Coaches won’t be paid but the workouts will be school sponsored, Cornelius said. Coaches and students are expected to be allowed on campuses only after being tested for COVID-19.

Official fall practice is scheduled for Dec. 14. Cornelius said even if conditioning is allowed next month, that does not mean official practice will be permitted in December.

Cornelius said each school has a budget for masks, so coaches will not be expected to purchase masks for themselves or students.

“I’m very confident it will open soon,” Cornelius said.

Cornelius said there’s expected to be specific plans for conditioning, with pods of players and restrictions on how many athletes can be on campus at any one time. All participants would need to be cleared by schools with physicals and signed parental permission forms.