Independent file photo Members of the Marshall boys hockey team celebrate after scoring a goal during their game against Redwood Valley on Dec. 12, 2019. Youth and high school winter sports teams will be able to start practicing next Monday, while games can resume on Jan. 14.

MARSHALL — Youth and high school winter sports teams will be able to begin playing games and scrimmages as soon as Jan. 14, and basketball and hockey players must wear face coverings while competing, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

The MDH released updated guidelines on Monday afternoon for winter sports teams. Currently, teams will be able to start practicing next week, with athletes being required to wear masks during practice.

“The decision to resume sports does not mean engaging in sports is without risk. Any time you gather with other people, you are putting yourself and others at risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,” the guidance reads. “The masking, distancing, and other guidance provided here is intended to reduce the risk of transmission, but does not eliminate it.”

Activities such as gymnastics, cheerleading, swimming and diving and wrestling will be allowed to remove face coverings temporarily while doing certain tasks, for fear of them becoming a choking hazard, in accordance to recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Marshall girls basketball coach Dan Westby said it will be a big adjustment for the players to wear the mask while they’re out on the floor, but felt they would rather have the chance to play than not at all.

“It will certainly be a challenge; during the fall, we didn’t have to compete with a mask on so it will take some getting used to,” Westby said. “But I think if you were to poll our players, they would prefer to be able to play despite having to wear a mask. We’ll also have a couple of weeks to get acclimated to that so we’ll see how it goes.”

Teams will practice in pods of 25 athletes and additional guidances on game play is expected from Minnesota health officials. Right now, gymnastics, dance, boys swim and dive and nordic and alpine skiing will be allowed a maximum of 11 contests during the regular season. Hockey and basketball will be allowed 18 games in the regular season, while wrestling will have 16 match days and a maximum of 32 competitions, if all of them are triangulars. There will be no tournaments or invitationals during the regular season.

Westby added some of the protocols at practice they experienced during the volleyball season will carry over to basketball, but one thing they will try to do is limit players to using only one basketball during shooting drills.

“Some of those we went through it during volleyball, so that will carry over. Our school has done a great job of providing additional sanitizing stations and we encourage our players to use them as often as possible,” Westby said. “During shooting drills, we’ll try to have players use the same basketball for some consistency; we did that this summer so we’ll continue to have them use one ball unless we’re doing a 5-on-5 drill. There will be a lot of things to be mindful of.”

While they had hoped for an earlier start date, Westby said they remain optimistic that they’ll get to play their entire schedule this season.

“We’re just thankful for the opportunity to play. While we wish it would’ve been a little earlier, we have to take what we can get. Hopefully we’ll get to be able to play a full 18 games in the regular season and then have a section tournament and beyond,” Westby said. “Another challenge we’ll face is we usually play all of our section teams during the regular season and we won’t be able to do that because of the conference-only schedule, so that will be an adjustment.”