Fans return to USD stadiums in limited capacity

Coaches and student athletes receive tickets to give to friends and family, no tickets currently available to general public

Eric Boose / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

When USD’s football and baseball teams took to the field for their games at the beginning of this month, there were, for the first time in over a year, fans in the stands. As San Diego County has moved into less restrictive tiers in California’s reopening plan, the University of San Diego welcomed fans back to stadiums on campus, albeit in limited numbers.

Starting April 1, the university gave out so-called complimentary pass list tickets to student athletes and coaches, which they could then distribute to friends and family members. 

Bill McGillis, USD’s Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics, said that the decision came after California released COVID guidelines in March, which indicated that spectators would be permitted at outdoor events starting in April.

“We had not talked about it for several months, prior to the state issuing some new guidance,” McGillis said. “We kind of put our toe in the water, we decided to take a more conservative approach, and we’ve expanded it a bit, but we decided for logistical challenge reasons to not make tickets for sale to the general public.”

But McGillis also said that despite their conservative approach, the university has become more flexible in the last three weeks, expanding the number of people that student-athletes could give their complimentary pass tickets to. USD baseball player Paul Kunst, a graduate student in his sixth year with the team, explained that originally, the tickets could only go to family members.

“Two weeks ago, they had to go to family, this weekend they can go to friends or family, but there are certain rules about who,” Kunst said. “Family was allowed last home series against Fullerton, and then this week they’re allowing anyone from California to be allowed, and there are some different out-of-state rules that I’m not too sure about.”

Kunst also explained that this year’s complimentary pass system works pretty much the same as it would in a normal year — players receive a certain number of tickets, which they can then give away. However, there is one major difference. USD said that no tickets will be available to the general public for the rest of the spring season, meaning that currently, athletes’ complimentary pass tickets are the only ones available. 

Senior Emilie Schumacher, who is the social media director for the Bull Pit, USD’s official student section, called that limitation unfortunate, but acknowledged that “going too fast and letting too many fans in” had the potential to do more harm than good. Schumacher added that the Bull Pit “knew from the start that we weren’t going to be allowed,” and is planning not to be back in the stands until Fall 2021.

“We figured we might as well just plan for next semester, and hopefully by next semester we’re not really dealing with tiers, so it’s a little bit easier to plan around,” Schumacher said. “We ourselves have kind of figured out, I think California said something like if things go well they’re going to release restrictions on June 15. We heard about that and assumed, following that date, if things go well, we’ll be able to go back. We haven’t been told that, but that’s just what we assumed.”

According to McGillis, there is a possibility that students will be able to return sooner than that. While he did not guarantee anything, McGillis said that a “COVID response team within athletics” would consider offering a limited number of tickets to USD students, faculty and staff during the remainder of the spring semester. 

“Within our capacity limits, I would say we are likely to make a decision that allows that tomorrow [April 20],” McGillis said. “Now, the capacity limits still come into play, and actually the state guidance is a little murky, to be honest, and I think different organizations in the state and different universities in the state are handling it very differently.”

Currently, with San Diego in the Orange Tier, stadiums can only fill 33% of their capacity. Those capacity limits presented a challenge even to accommodating just the people on the complimentary pass list, especially at USD’s less-than-100-seat softball complex. 

“In softball … the capacity at that facility is so small that when you do the 33% thing and you spread people out, we’re not able to accommodate the visiting team,” McGillis said, referring to parents of players on the visiting team. “We’re basically only able to provide between two and four (tickets) to our team, that’s it.”

As Fowler Park, the home of USD baseball, seats around 1700 people, McGillis said USD could welcome a small number of students, faculty, and staff while still distributing complimentary pass tickets to players and coaches for the final three home baseball series of the season. He also noted that attendance at men’s and women’s tennis matches is currently less restricted than at other sports. 

“Many of our tennis scholar-athletes are international, and they don’t have family members here so we know they’re not taking up a lot of seats, so we’re providing more flexibility right now,” McGillis said. “I went out to tennis yesterday, we probably had 75 people out there, and that would be a combination of friends and some donors that support tennis, things like that.”

Even if many fans will almost certainly have to wait until fall to get back to a game in-person, the limited reopening of USD’s stands is good news for those who can attend. Kunst said his family planned to be in attendance for the Toreros’ series against the University of San Francisco last weekend.

“My mom, dad, and my brother are coming, which is exciting,” Kunst said. “They love Torero baseball, so it’s nice to get them in the stadium. I know they’ve been wanting to all season so far.”

All fans who do attend USD games are required to wear a face mask for the entire time that they are on campus, and are asked to remain in their assigned seats, as the stands have been divided into pods for groups to maintain social distance from other groups of fans. Also, upon arrival, fans go through the same screening procedures that USD students go through arriving on campus. 

The return of fans may only be a small one, but it is a step in a positive direction, toward a safe reopening. It is a sign for fans both in the stands and at home on their couches that things are returning to normal.