COVID Testing

JUNE 21, 2021 UPDATE

The MDHHS has stated that the most recent "Gatherings and Face Mask Order" (signed on May 24, 2021; effective on June 1, 2021) and other emergency orders will be rescinded on June 22 (LINK).

Therefore, it appears that weekly testing for athletes aged 13-19 will no longer be required. We will discontinue our Thursday testing unless and until that changes.

Based on the June 1 "Gatherings and Face Mask Order" from the MDHHS (LINK):

"Gatherings for the purpose of sports practice and competition involving persons ages 13 to 19 are prohibited unless all such persons comply with a testing program as specified in the MDHHS publication entitled "Interim Guidance for Athletics" issued May 24, 2021."  

That order includes some definitions:

"Organized sports" means competitive athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and organized by a sports organizer.

and

"Practice" means a training session for a game of skill, involving only members of a single team.

The MHSAA has advised their schools that weekly testing is not required for summer workouts and conditioning (LINK).  Presumably this is because conditioning doesn't fall within the definition of "organized sports" and "practice" and they aren't competing against other teams during summer activities.

Based on the current orders from MDHHS, our players in the 13-19 age range will need to test weekly. As a convenience for our families, we have partnered with a local testing provider (mi health clinic) to come to our practices once per week to perform tests at no out-of-pocket cost.

The testing will be done from 5-6 PM on Thursdays at Northeast Middle School (i.e. before our Thursday practices).

Any week that you're unable to participate in the Thursday testing or if you would prefer to test elsewhere for whatever reason, you will need to communicate to Jonathan Moore (jonmower@gmail.com) that you have received a negative test result elsewhere sometime during that week. The player will be not be eligible to play or practice until a test is completed.

REGISTRATION BEFORE TESTING

If you haven't already done so, you'll need to register with mi health clinic before participating in the Thursday testing. You can access the registration form using the QR code below or with this link: HERE

Michigan Health Clinics has their own laboratory with a fast turnaround of results, within 24 hours. Their staff notifies the patient of results (negative or positive) and will also communicate the results via a private and secure message to club president Jonathan Moore. The sample collection by Michigan Health Clinics is done just inside the nostril and may tickle but doesn't involve significant discomfort. Their test uses the molecular methods, with higher sensitivity and specificity than antigen tests.

A FAQ document (updated May 27) MI Safer Sports Testing Program is available here: LINK

Should participants who have already had and recovered from COVID-19 still participate in testing?

Athletes who have recovered from a symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis in the past three months and remain symptom-free may participate in team sports activities without testing if they can provide a letter from their doctor attesting that they fall into this category (the individual must have had a positive diagnostic test within three months and must have displayed symptoms. An antibody test is not sufficient).

If an individual has been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, do they still have to participate in the testing program?

No. Per CDC Guidance, MDHHS permits fully vaccinated individuals to gather for the purposes of sports practice or competition without testing as long as they are asymptomatic.