On Wednesday Jan. 5, VUSD Superintendent Dr. Roger Rice announced that all indoor sporting events will have a maximum of four spectators per player. There will no longer be an admission charge at the door, and they will have a roster of the players to keep a tally of how many spectators are entering the building per player.

An exception to this rule is that freshman sophomore athletes will be allowed to attend games regardless of maximum capacity limits. This also applies to performance groups such as the dance and cheer teams.

The Ventura Unified School District is one of the first districts in the area to enforce these rules. They are trying to push these changes onto other districts that are in proximity to Buena in order to reduce the amount of games being cancelled or delayed due to safety precautions. 

¨I believe this will help make things more consistent and safer when our teams travel,¨ Rice said in a district wide.. 

Basketball is currently one of the most viewed sports for Buena athletics during the winter season and since all games are held indoors the amount of spectators allowed inside have been reduced significantly. Along with weekly testing, players are being reported sick causing the cancellation of games and other activities for Buena and opposing teams. 

“Our games are being cancelled and rescheduled and if games continue to be delayed they will be forced to forfeit,” Varsity basketball player and senior Darin Cole said.

Buena’s basketball team came back after these changes happened to one of their most important games. Their cross town rivalry game against the Ventura Cougars is a sporting event that often has the stands filled with spectators, this year the stands were, for the majority, empty.

“It really sucks, we hope that games like those are very hyped and high energy but with basically empty stands there is no energy in the crowd,” Cole said.

In an attempt to improve the safety of our schools and the prevention of games being cancelled, VUSD advises all parents to keep their children at home if experiencing any possible symptoms of COVID.  Ventura County Public Health and County Superintendent will also come together and discuss possible reduction of quarantine time to five days. 

“Please remember if your child has any symptoms of COVID-19 we are asking you to keep them home and call the front office of their school,” Rice said in a district wide email.