[akiddoc]

I am interested in women's volleyball.  Since few on this board follow this sport, I will ask my question this way. 

During practice will there be a rule to clean/sanitize volleyballs, basketballs, footballs, etc after each scrimmage play or drill?   That doesn't seem feasible and gloves for volleyball and basketball would be cumbersome at best.

As far as spreading an infection, there is essentially no difference between the skin of your hands and the surface of a glove.

I'm not sure that cleaning the ball between plays would do much good, but then it wouldn't do much harm (in terms of slowing things down).  In VB, a different ball is used to start each point. In FB, balls are often swapped between plays.  (That's in games.  I doubt practices involve wiping the balls down much at all.)

In all these sports, the ball is likely to be far less of a problem than the shared air that players breath.  I do hope that FB will require face shields (if for no other reason than to stop spitting as an aggressive & infectious act).  Whether FB gets some sort of sealed helmet with a N95 filter is another question.  It might be useful, but seems problematic.   I think face masks/shields for BB will be very problematic (sweat, fogging, the difficulty if it gets bumped just a bit).  Basketball has a good bit more time with opponents within inches of each other than VB.  In VB, opponents typically are within 6' at the net and within inches during a joust.

While we know that the virus exists in saliva, I'm unaware if it is present in sweat.  If it is, that poses another risk for contact sports FB, basketball, wrestling, etc. but less so for VB.  (In VB, you are exposed to a team mate's sweat, but less so to opponents.)

Frankly, I don't see how most sports can be played (or practiced) without risking the health of the players
EXCEPT if there is pre-game rapid testing (with once a week or so more reliable testing) and maybe even pre-practice rapid testing.

Remember, the risk to this age group is not too high. It is not zero, but statistically the risk of serious illness is tiny.

[akiddoc]

I am interested in women's volleyball.  Since few on this board follow this sport, I will ask my question this way. 

During practice will there be a rule to clean/sanitize volleyballs, basketballs, footballs, etc after each scrimmage play or drill?   That doesn't seem feasible and gloves for volleyball and basketball would be cumbersome at best.

As far as spreading an infection, there is essentially no difference between the skin of your hands and the surface of a glove.

I'm not sure that cleaning the ball between plays would do much good, but then it wouldn't do much harm (in terms of slowing things down).  In VB, a different ball is used to start each point. In FB, balls are often swapped between plays.  (That's in games.  I doubt practices involve wiping the balls down much at all.)

In all these sports, the ball is likely to be far less of a problem than the shared air that players breath.  I do hope that FB will require face shields (if for no other reason than to stop spitting as an aggressive & infectious act).  Whether FB gets some sort of sealed helmet with a N95 filter is another question.  It might be useful, but seems problematic.   I think face masks/shields for BB will be very problematic (sweat, fogging, the difficulty if it gets bumped just a bit).  Basketball has a good bit more time with opponents within inches of each other than VB.  In VB, opponents typically are within 6' at the net and within inches during a joust.

While we know that the virus exists in saliva, I'm unaware if it is present in sweat.  If it is, that poses another risk for contact sports FB, basketball, wrestling, etc. but less so for VB.  (In VB, you are exposed to a team mate's sweat, but less so to opponents.)

Frankly, I don't see how most sports can be played (or practiced) without risking the health of the players
EXCEPT if there is pre-game rapid testing (with once a week or so more reliable testing) and maybe even pre-practice rapid testing.

Remember, the risk to this age group is not too high. It is not zero, but statistically the risk of serious illness is tiny.