Iowa Nixes Capacity Limits at HS Sporting Events

After limiting capacity for nearly a year, Iowa has decided to welcome any and all spectators back to high school sporting events. 

While fans will still need to socially distance at games, Governor Kim Reynolds this week lifted limits that allowed just two spectators per participating athlete or cheer member.

With restrictions lifted, schools are now wondering what the new guidelines are.

“What we’ve been telling them is you can go more restrictive than what the proclamation says, but you can’t go less restrictive,” Tom Keating, Iowa High School Athletic Association director, told the Cedar Rapids ABC affiliate. “Each venue is different as far as what they can accommodate, and then by sport it’s different. You can accommodate in a gym on a Saturday with four mats on your floor, running a wrestling is different than what you can do on Friday night when you’ve got a basketball game.”

While some districts have decided to move ahead with less restrictions, others have decided to keep previous guidelines in place.

“We noticed that most of the households when we did that, there was still some room and we could social distance,” said Mike Hilmer, North Linn athletic director. “We’re hoping tonight that adding some people could fill the gym, but we can still social distance to a degree. The hard part is you don’t know how many people are going to show up." 

Fans will still be required to wear masks whether schools increase capacity.