Aragon sports have started up again in the form of conditioning, leading to both excitement and concern from student-athletes, parents and coaches. During a normal school year, many sports such as cross country would engage in preseason conditioning prior to the start of school, but restrictions due to COVID-19 have pushed back season start dates and effectively changed how athletes train.
In order to participate in sports, many different safety precautions must be taken. According to Athletic Director Steve Sell, a maximum of three cohorts are allowed onto a specific facility at a time. Each cohort is made up of a maximum of 14 players and two coaches. Once on the field, students have to stand six feet apart. With the exception of practicing their sport, athletes are required to wear a mask when entering, exiting and standing in the facility. These guidelines, set by the state, are to be followed by every school.
To lower the risk of a coronavirus outbreak, students have their temperature scanned and are asked a series of questions which assess their risk level, such as whether they’ve been in contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
“We have to read a questionnaire like ‘Have there been any symptoms the past 14 days?’ [and use] hand sanitizer,” said junior track and field athlete Jack Hickey. “We always try to stay six feet apart no matter what we are doing.”
Multiple teams have been conditioning for the past few weeks including boys and girls volleyball, football, track and field, cross country, baseball, softball and girls and boys water polo. Not every team practices every day due to the sheer amount of teams conditioning; there is a schedule for each sport which shows their specific days when they come to the field.
“Football is four days a week, some sports are three days a week, some are two,” Sell said. “Some of the swimming teams may only swim once a week, but they may do some online Zoom workouts.”
There is a limit of 50 people allowed in a facility at a time, meaning few practices have two different teams on the field simultaneously. No matter the amount of players in the facilities, athletes must ensure they are six feet away from each other as a result of the increased number of people.
Due to the large number of athletes on each team, they were not allowed to use equipment until the first week of October. Sports such as baseball, softball, football and water polo are now able to use equipment such as balls, bats, gloves and helmets.
The decision to start conditioning in the fall and push back the start of the season to December was discussed throughout the summer. The school decided to use the extra time in the fall to give athletes the opportunity to get back in shape before the official seasons start again. Discussion regarding athletes playing safely in tournaments is still ongoing. Coaches constantly update their athletes with any changes and required precautions.
Although there were a few people who conditioned over the summer, the majority of athletes who participated in Aragon sports last year did not. The conditioning rules over the summer were slightly stricter than the rules in place now. A maximum of 12 athletes were allowed into a facility at a time, and they were all required to take the same safety precautions as now.
Even though the idea of reopening athletics during a pandemic may seem confusing, the actual practices and conditioning are very similar to the practices held before the pandemic, with minor adjustments such as no high fives or fist bumps. Aside from athletes who participate in activities which require athletes to be close together, such as running or swimming, everybody conditions apart from each other — the coaches still continue to mentor the same way as before in order to prepare everyone for the upcoming season.
Although athletes are conditioning, there is still no guarantee that tournaments will be played. There hasn’t been any confirmation if any competitions will be held this school year, even if students are preparing like they will be. For most of the teams conditioning right now, official practices start on Dec. 14 and the season starts two weeks later on Dec. 28. Depending on team rankings, the fall season will finish sometime in March.
“Nothing has been finalized yet, but we are certainly hoping,” Sell said. “We just need to get the okay from the county and state to determine if we can play.”
Conditioning is a crucial component of getting ready for the season and is proceeding quite normally despite the many safety precautions required. The hope is that this continues for the rest of the year and games can be played safely.
