In February, the San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush cheerleading squad performed at Super Bowl LIV in Miami.

Seven months later, there are no 49ers road games or affiliate events for the Gold Rush to attend. They’ll have a limited role at the eight 2020 home games, but won’t be allowed on the field, a newly instituted rule by the NFL that also applies to sideline reporters and mascots.

As spokespeople for the 49ers and e2k (the company that manages the cheerleading squad) recently told SFGATE, it’s going to be a very unusual season for Gold Rush members.

Here’s the plan: A smaller group of cheerleaders will perform their routines, always masked up, at the plaza entrances of Levi’s Stadium for an online-only audience watching the team’s pregame show on 49ers.com. The Gold Rush currently has 31 members, in line with previous years, and will bring 18 people to each home game. (Normally, the whole squad goes to games.) The 31 members are cheerleading veterans. No tryouts were held in the lead-up to this season, which differed from other NFL cheerleading squads, some of whom had to cut their auditions short when the pandemic hit/worsened.

“It broke my heart to not hold auditions, but I think it would be a tough first year for new members, and I’m just really grateful that we have a full squad coming back,” said Christi Dean, Gold Rush director.

Typically, the Gold Rush would be meeting in-person every Saturday to rehearse and prepare for the year ahead. Instead, they’ve been practicing on Zoom, all while wearing their masks. They’ll do one in-person rehearsal before the 49ers’ opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 13, and for their first two home games, the 18 attending cheerleaders will stick to choreography they’ve attempted previously.

At Levi’s Stadium, where fans are currently banned, e2k says an executive producer will be around to make sure cheerleaders use their masks. The producer will also make sure the cheerleaders are feeling okay, since they’re wearing masks while doing strenuous exercises. A designated area has been established for extra breaks, which e2k says cheerleaders are encouraged to take.

Other safety precautions are pretty standard for sporting events of late. Everyone will have their temperature taken upon arrival, and for obvious reasons, carpooling to the games is no longer an option. E2k says it’s given cheerleaders the option to opt out if they’re uncomfortable performing in-person, and thus far, no one has decided not to participate.

Lastly, a teeny tiny bit of good news: Despite the limited schedule and a sharp reduction in appearances, Gold Rush members will be paid the same part-time salary as last year, e2k says. NFL cheerleaders have long been woefully underpaid, so this is a truly bare-minimum step — but it’s noteworthy all the same, since plenty of companies and sports teams have proven incapable of providing the bare minimum to their employees during the pandemic.