On the surface, the Last Dance baseball tournament — set to begin this week with more than 200 teams across the state — will be one of the first organized team sporting events in New Jersey since the coronavirus pandemic shut the high school sports world down in March.
But this tournament will do more than provide players, parents, coaches and teams with an opportunity to make up for what was lost in the canceled 2020 spring season. With numerous host sites, thousands of players and plenty of moving parts, it could also serve as a blueprint for how high school sports can safely operate in the fall if schools reopen as expected.
"We felt that early on, even when we were drafting the idea," tournament director and St. Joe's (Met.) athletic director Mike Murray said. "We knew that any plan was going to have to start with safety and waiting for more information. When I started this in May, we didn't have the information that we have today. We certainly felt that to begin with. One kid getting real sick is too many."
The Last Dance will follow rigorous safety protocols, including staggered temperature checks by athletic trainers, symptom checks before arriving at the field and recommended mask usage for anyone in attendance, Murray said.
There are obvious differences between this tournament and a true high school sports season, with key issues like integration of sports with academics and socially-distanced team buses absent from consideration in Last Dance but at the forefront of how to bring interscholastic athletics back in the fall.
But from a procedural standpoint, the Last Dance tournament could be an indicator of how sports may operate on fields and courts when high school sports resume.
"Look, there are a lot of issues ... that we don't have to deal with," Murray said. "We'd like it to be something that procedurally we can be like, 'Look, this works. We had procedure, we followed protocols, kids had fun and were healthy.'"
The tournament won't be sanctioned or sponsored by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, although the governing body did clear the way for high school coaches to manage teams by classifying it as a youth sporting event.
“I can’t say for sure if the NJSIAA specifically is watching what happens with the Last Dance,” said State Sen. Paul Sarlo, a member of the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee who is also coaching Wood-Ridge’s entry in the tournament. “But good visuals and positive media reports will be noticed by everyone from the governor’s office on down to high schools themselves.”
The tournament is scheduled to start Tuesday with pool play at dozens of host sites throughout the state before advancing to single-elimination play at professional stadiums throughout New Jersey throughout the rest of July.
The Last Dance secured a presenting sponsorship from RWJ Barnabas Health for $10,000, Murray said. "I had good conversations with them. They thought it was a great opportunity to align with exactly what we're talking about," he said. "This event is predicated with doing it safely and with people's health in mind. They thought we were aligning with what they were thinking there. It was nice to have their support of the event and they're a resource for us at this point, giving us good information and helping us out."
The championship game will be played at Arm & Hammer Stadium, the home of the Trenton Thunder, on July 31.
That facility holds 6,120 people and is expecting to allow 500 spectators, in accordance with outdoor-gathering guidelines from Gov. Phil Murphy. It will be ready to safely host that championship game scheduled for July 31 — plus games during pool play week.
"Throughout this process, we were holding out hope that a Thunder season would occur," Thunder GM Jeff Hurley said. "We were putting out policies and procedures preparing for if the Trenton Thunder were to play. We had already had meetings internally and had talked to our cleaning vendors. What we were able to do was take those policies and move them to non-gameday events."
Arm & Hammer Park will require fans to wear masks prior to entering the gates and the ballpark will be cleaned before and after every event, especially in the seating area and on the concourses, Hurley said.
"As of now, the outdoor limitation is 500 and we're a 6,120-seat facility," Hurley said. "We think we can practice proper social distancing. We're requiring all fans in attendance to wear masks prior to entering the gates. We've had great conversations with our cleaning crew about making sure that everything in the general seating area and on the concourse and at the gates are properly disinfected. We feel confident that we are providing a safe environment for these field rentals, such as the Last Dance or our movie night in July."
The status of high school sports for the fall season gained clarity on Friday when the NJSIAA announced the start of the season would be pushed back one month to Oct. 1. The first phase of summer workouts will begin on Monday and those will conclude August 28. Official practices for the fall season will begin Sept. 14. The fall season will conclude on Nov. 22 with limited, regional postseason tournaments.
But this tournament, which has grown from its infancy stages in May to an event spanning to all corners of New Jersey, has shown that dozens of people can come together to make things work — even in a pandemic.
"I've said it in a million different places, I think it has underscored how good of a New Jersey baseball community that we have," Murray said. "I can't tell you how many of these people have not only offered up fields but they've been doing more.
“Teams offering to bring in (public address) announcers and different things. Everybody wants to do something special for a group that has lost a lot. Everybody is figuring out ways that they can add their own flavor to it. It’s an idea that I came up with and shared with some other guys, but at this point to execute it and make it a great event, you’re talking about the help and support and influence of so many people in our baseball state. It’s been really, really cool to see.”
Brian Deakyne may be reached at bdeakyne@njadvancemedia.com.
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