Coronavirus: Sports order threatens soccer Beavercreek tournament

The annual CUSA Labor Day Cup soccer tournament that brings hundreds of players and fans to Beavercreek every year may be difficult, if not impossible to play under the new executive order on sports competition from Governor Mike DeWine.

The order, issued late Thursday, says two teams may play each other more than once in a single day, but during that 24-hour period they may not play other teams.

At his briefing Thursday DeWIne said he ordered a halt to traditional tournament play in any sport. "I did not want to see multiple teams with multiple games per day. It just did not make sense."

The soccer tournament is currently set to run September 5 and 6 at the Ankeney Soccer Complex in Beavercreek, according to the CUSA web site.

Organizers were aware of the order’s language and were seeking additional information on Thursday. WHIO-TV requested an interview with organizers, but so far they have not commented on the Governor’s rules.

DeWine said he was putting safety first.

“Our goal was to let competitions work forward...let kids play. The idea of trying to limit exposure for those kids,” DeWine said. The same rules cover both school and non-school sporting activities.

Thursday's briefing also brought an indication of just how serious the state is taking enforcement for school sports like football.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who played a major role in crafting the regulations, said in school related sports the school that hosts the event must designate someone to enforce the rules for limiting people in the stands to immediate family members and social distancing for players before and after the games. Failure to follow the rules could result in a major penalty.

“The Ohio High School Athletic Association has the ability and reserves the right to cause a forfeiture of the game. 

For DeWine, who often talks about his own love of baseball as a spectator and his children and grandchildren’s participation in cross country, the decision to prevent multiple games on the same day was difficult but necessary.   

“We purposely wrote that language. We thought long and hard about it. We consulted doctors and health officials and that’s what we came up with,” DeWine said. 

DeWine’s sports order takes effect Friday.

Cox Media Group