Mesa, AZ With COVID-19 cases on the rise in Arizona and healthcare facilities reaching capacity, the City of Mesa worked with hospitality, visitor and sports industry leaders on a public health strategy that places new requirements on sports tournaments.
At a City Council study session on Monday, Dec. 14, the City of Mesa announced enhanced safety protocols for youth and amateur sports tournaments held at city-owned facilities.
The enhanced safety measures require event organizers to strictly enforce existing protocols, such as face masks for spectators, social distancing and reducing capacity on sports fields. Failure to enforce these protocols could result in immediate cancellation of games, tournaments or the denial of future events, the City Council announced.
The City protocols go into effect December 15 and apply to any safety plans previously submitted by event organizers and for all tournaments on or after December 18, 2020.
After hearing concerns from our healthcare community about the severity of the health crisis, we reached out to our partners at Visit Mesa to work together to tighten protocols in the visitor industry, to keep our residents safe and keep teams on the field, said Mesa Mayor John Giles. Well continue to work in-tandem with our hospitality and tourism industries to identify solutions that help keep our kids active and our economy healthy.
Visit Mesa, the regions convention and visitors bureau, has partnered with the City to propose a set of enhanced safety protocols with specific attention to out-of-town visitors staying in Mesa hotels and using Mesa-owned sports fields. These are in addition to existing Mesa Clean Stay guidelines for hotels.
For details regarding safety protocols and guidelines at other City of Mesa facilities, please visit mesaaz.gov/coronavirus.
Contact: Casey Blake
Mayor's Office
casey.blake@mesaaz.gov
480-644-6620