• Dugout occupancy: Dugout occupancy is limited to 4, unless all occupants are wearing masks. Please see how to address this at each of our locations below. Any coach or player that is 15 or older, and has received their final dose of vaccine for two weeks or more is considered fully vaccinated and is no longer required to wear a mask or 6’ social distance.
• Bleacher occupancy: The 20% occupancy limit is no longer in place, however spectators must continue to practice social distancing while viewing the games.
• Complex limitations: We are no longer asking that teams playing in the 8:00 game wait outside of the complex until the previous game’s participants have exited, however teams waiting for the dugout should stand clear and not gather at the dugout entrance until the previous team has left the dugout.
• Posted Guidelines: All attendees must comply with any posted guidelines provided by the Normal or Bloomington Parks and Recreation Departments or School System or any other facility provider.
• Enforcement: Champion Fields staff may occasionally provide a friendly reminder such as “Hey, the 4 person limit includes coaches and players”, but it is truly not their responsibility and we should not put them in the awkward position of having to ask. It is up to us, the community of BNGSA coaches, players, families and board members to take care of each other. Last year BNGSA was proud of how our girls actually embraced the rules and pulled off a season when some other organizations struggled. All they need is the support of our coaches and parents and they will set the same standard and make us proud again this year.
• When not to attend: If a coach, player or fan does not feel well, exhibits any COVID symptoms, was knowingly in close contact with someone who tested positive, or tested positive themselves please stay home. Please note that our league organizers are volunteers and it takes many hours for them to run each of the leagues even under normal circumstances. They are not qualified to make medical judgements and our organization simply doesn’t have the resources to conduct contact tracing. Therefore, rather than contact your organizer with questions related to “should I stay home if…” or put your team at risk, we are asking that you simply do not attend if you have any concerns at all about potential COVID symptoms or exposure.

Some notes about where the players and fans can sit during games:  Each of our venues are a bit different, so here is our player and fan seating policy for each location.

Champion Fields: This one is easy. Because of the volume of activities there, the park managers have installed very clear signs limiting occupancy to 4 in each dugout (unless all occupants are wearing masks) and designating areas for players near the dugouts.

O’Neil: The good news is there are a lot of bleachers. Keeping in mind that these are the smallest and least ventilated dugouts, we have any easy opportunity to allow the players to use the sections of bleachers closest to each dugout to spread out. The families will still have the section behind the plate along with two large sections on each side closer to home plate to remain separated from the players. There is also room for families to spread out along left and right field lines.

McGraw: The only way in and out of the dugout is immediately adjacent to the bleachers. There are two sets of bleachers on each side. Let’s allow the players to use the sets right next to the dugout so they can spread out. Families can use the set that is further from the dugout. Then there is lots of rooms along the left and right field lines to spread out.

Ewing, Oakland and Rollingbrook: These location are completely different in that there is no actual dugouts. The players should be allowed to space along the fence the entire length of the dirt infield from home to first and home to third. For families, there are grassy areas along left field, right field, and in the case of Ewing and Rollingbrook, small sets of bleachers behind the fence. The good news is there is plenty of open space, but without dugouts and bleachers this will be harder to control so we are asking coaches, players and families to monitor that fans keep their distance from the designated player areas.