Spurs Up, Mask Up, Sit On Your Dot!
As Gamecock fans prepare for their second visit to Williams-Brice Stadium this season, South Carolina Athletics wants to remind everyone of policies in place due to COVID-19, and also provide updates on any new guidelines based on feedback from the season opener. For starters, be sure to wear your mask, practice social distancing, and please sit in your designated seat.
“Facial coverings are required to enter the stadium, and we would like fans to wear the facial coverings when they’re in the stadium as well,” said Chris Rogers, Senior Associate Athletics Director. “We have policed that in the bowl as well as the concourse areas. That will be a focus moving forward; making sure people are social distancing and wearing facial coverings. The later we get into the fall, the less of a concern the heat is going to be, so we continue to encourage fans to wear their face masks even while seated for the safety of everyone else.”
Prisma Health is providing masks for the first 500 South Carolina students entering the stadium. After reviewing its protocols from week one of the football season, the Athletics Department also took note of feedback from fans that could be applied as the season moves forward.
“The vast majority of the feedback we got from people after game one was that they did feel safe being in the stadium,” Rogers said. “Game one went about as well as we could have expected it to go for never having done this before in the middle of a pandemic. With social distancing, parking, lines, and seating, I think the first game overall was a success from a game operations perspective.”
The Athletics Department added a few tweaks to its protocols to allow for less pedestrian traffic entering the stadium as well as while they’re in the stadium.
“We are going to add a couple of concessions locations on the West Main level because of what the demand was in that first week,” Rogers said. “We’ll also put some additional staff out for ingress, as people are entering the stadium to provide a little more direction. Generally speaking, fans did a good job of following the social distancing markers and where the lines were supposed to go, but this will give a little more direction to fans so they know exactly where to go to avoid any confusion at points of entry.”
South Carolina Athletics has been working with University leadership, public health officials, the Southeastern Conference, and local government to ensure the safety of spectators, student-athletes, and workers. In addition to wearing a mask upon entering the stadium, while finding your seat, and while standing in line for concessions or restrooms, fans are asked to wear masks correctly so that it covers the nose and mouth.
“We are going to do more messaging in-stadium,” Rogers said. “Obviously, there is signage everywhere, but we’re going to do more video board and public address announcements to remind people to wear their face masks, to social distance, and in particular, when you are in the bowl, if you’re in a chairback area to stay in that area, or if there is an area where there are seating stickers, to sit where their dot is in order to maintain social distancing. We did that in game one, but we’re just going to do even more of that in game two.”
Fans are reminded that face shields alone are NOT considered acceptable facial coverings for entrance into the stadium, and that they should stay home if they are not feeling well or have been in close contact with someone who has been infected with COVID-19.
For more information about game day protocols, please click here.
