The Texas Punishers Back-to-School Bash baseball tournament will feature two divisions, 8U (eight years old and under) and 9U (nine years old and under). Each division will be limited to eight teams.
The tournament will take place Aug. 22- 23 at Towle Park. Precautions against COVID-19 will be taken during the tournament, tournament organizer Nick Barboza said.
A portion of the stands will be roped off as additional space for the teams’ dugouts, allowing players to socially distance while their team is at bat.
The stands will be marked with seats six feet apart to encourage spectators to socially distance, and the stands will be cleaned and sanitized after each game.
Umpires and coaches will wear face masks. A distanced hat wave will take the place of the traditional handshake between teams following each game.
“I’d say, just listening to you, that you’ve got it pretty well figured out,” Commissioner Shawn McCowen said Monday when the county approved the tournament.
Commissioner Terry Williams commended Barboza on the precautions the organization has planned.
“I was just in Lubbock the week before last and went to a basketball game,” Williams said. “There were no masks. People were sitting beside each other from every group, and they have a lot more problems than we have, of course. I appreciate y’all going above and beyond to make sure we don’t have any influxes here in our county.”
In addition to approving the tournament, commissioners voted to allow organizers to operate a concession stand.