Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper the Ichabod Crane School Board voted February 9, to approve the start of varsity and JV boys and girls basketball; varsity boys volleyball; varsity, JV and modified girls volleyball; varsity football; varsity cheerleading; and, varsity wrestling. The board included language in the resolution requiring a testing protocol for wrestling. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last month announced that high risk sports could begin practice and competition on February 1, if permitted by local health authorities “It kind of caught everyone off guard,” Ichabod’s Athletic Director Tim Stewart said. The county Department of Health advised schools to hold off on high risk sports until there was a drop in the seven-day rolling average in the positivity rate for COVID-19, but on February 10, county DOH Director Jack Mabb gave the go-ahead for county schools to start practice. Stewart told the board there would be no spectators at games, that athletes must wear face coverings unless they cannot be tolerated, and the plan is to stay as close to home as possible for away games. He also said that five of the districts in the Colonial Council are holding off on wrestling for various reasons. The county DOH recommended that each student-athlete have medical clearance from his or her healthcare provider and that students must have a parent or guardian’s informed consent. And all student athletes must be tested once a week, using rapid antigen tests supplied by the county and/or Questar III BOCES. Cross-country, track, field hockey and soccer are already approved since they are considered low to moderate risk sports. If the number of COVID-19 cases increase in Columbia County, sports will be paused, Stewart said. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.