With traditional fall sports such as basketball and volleyball sidelined due to health and safety concerns, the members of the Recreation Board spent their meeting this week discussing ideas on how to create some kind of sports programming for Block Island kids. Other activities, such as ski trips and participation in a mainland soccer league, and indoor gym games such as pickleball, are also on hold.
“We’re going to have to reinvent ourselves if we aren’t going to have full recreation programs,” said Recreation Director Dave Sniffen.
The board members got creative, suggesting outdoor bike rides, badminton, field trips, bird walks and other non-traditional activities. But before any of these ideas could be formalized, Sniffen said he would follow what the Block Island School will be doing in terms of distancing and facemask-wearing, and to see what guidelines the state will be issuing on how to play such sports as soccer, which has been allowed to move forward this fall.
The board also made the decision to cancel the half marathon, which also takes place in the fall. “We haven’t shut it down, but I don’t know how we can do it safely,” said Sniffen. “For the amount
