RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond sports fans have been waiting to return to the stands to watch their favorite teams.
For the Richmond Kickers and the Flying Squirrels, home openers could not come soon enough.
This Saturday, the Kickers will kick off their 29th season in Richmond at 6:30 p.m. The team had limited crowds at games last year at City Stadium. However, due to COVID-19, the team wasn't able to have last year's home opener until August.
This year, the team has made a number of changes to keep spectators safe.
"The big thing is that masks will be required for all fans, covering the face and the nose," Camp Peery, the team's chief operating officer, said. "That will be required at all times unless you're actively eating or drinking."
The team is also processing all ticket and merchandise orders digitally. The team is also going cashless.
Tickets for Flying Squirrels' games are also now available. Because the team hasn't been able to play baseball in over a year, excitement is building among fans and athletes.
"Yeah, the excitement has been great, the turnout's been great," Todd "Parney" Parnell, the Squirrel's vice president and chief operating officer, said. "We want to encourage people to go to squirrelsbaseball.com if they can so they don't have to stand in the rain and our phone lines have just been absolutely smashed."
At this time, the Flying Squirrels are only selling tickets for a portion of the season as they are waiting to see if capacity limits will change by mid-June.
The team's opening day is May 4 with the first pitch at 6:35 p.m. The game will have fireworks.
