HOUMA, La. (AP) - After three months away, area high school athletes finally returned to their school facilities for workouts on Tuesday.
It was the first day that LHSAA athletic teams could begin their summer workouts after being away from its campuses due to the coronavirus outbreak in early March.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards moved the state to Phase II of its re-opening from the coronavirus last week, and the LHSAA’s executive committee voted to allow teams to restart some activities this week.
The summer workouts were scheduled to begin on Monday but it was pushed back a day by local schools due to Tropical Storm Cristobal moving through southeastern Louisiana.
But happy faces took the place of dark skies on Tuesday as athletes completed the first day of summer workouts.
“I saw a lot of smiles while they were working,” Thibodaux High head football coach Chris Dugas said. “I thought it was good (Tuesday) to be back. We’re getting back to some type of normal. I think that’s important for the kids. We had really good attendance. Getting back into it, you can tell a couple of them were a little out of shape, but hopefully these next couple of weeks, we’ll get them back into shape and get ready for the season coming up.”
Thibodaux senior quarterback Luke Alleman, who passed for 2,786 yards and 31 touchdowns and helped lead the Tigers to a 7-4 record and a trip to Class 5A state playoffs last year, said he was thrilled to be back with his teammates.
“It felt great,” Alleman said. “You can tell all the guys really missed being there and grinding together. First thing I did was run up to our field house janitor Mr. Duck (Donald Williams) and gave him a hug. My face had tears of joy. It feels amazing to be back with the team and coaches grinding and getting better.”
St. James head football coach Robert Valdez, who led the Wildcats to a Class 3A state championship last season, echoed Dugas’ thoughts about seeing his athletes back on campus.
“Our kids came in and we were glad to see them,” Valdez said. “We haven’t seen them in such a long time. It was just good to be out there and seeing them back in their element. It’s a great feeling because it gives you a strong sense of normalcy.”
While things felt like back to normal, there are new guidelines that all players and coaches have to go through in order to participate in summer workouts during the pandemic, especially with current distancing measures set by state and local authorities.
The LHSAA has released a list of recommendations for returning to weight rooms and practices such as daily temperature checks and health screening questions and as sanitizing all surfaces and equipment. The suggestions are based on similar recommendations from the National Federation of State High School Associations and the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
In Phase II, teams will have to keep groups to less than 25, which includes coaches, to limit the chances of a coronavirus outbreak. That group of players must stay the same throughout Phase II. Players can’t move to another group or interact with another group. They have to show up at their designated times.
Student-athletes in limited contact sports such as baseball, softball, cheerleading, volleyball and gymnastics are allowed to take to their fields or courts once again in groups of 25 or less. Contact sports like football, basketball, soccer and wrestling are limited to workouts only.
Other activities such as intrasquad scrimmages, matches and 7-on-7 competitions are prohibited during Phase II.
All students must have a current Pre-participation Physical Evaluation before beginning summer activities with their school. The PPE’s from 2019-20 expire Oct. 1.
Coaches and athletes are expected to be screened for symptoms of COVID-19, including a temperature check, before a workout.
With so many different guidelines, first-year South Terrebonne head football coach Archie Adams said the Gators used Tuesday’s first day as an orientation of sorts to help the athletes adjust to the changes during Phase II.
“It was awesome,” Adams said. “The temperature checks and safety precautions went better than expected. We used (Tuesday) to handle a lot of policy regarding Phase II. We also used it for paperwork and other matters. We got in a little stretching. Now hoping to build each day.”
Adams said the Gators want to do everything they can right now to be able to play in August.
“We want to take this seriously,” Adams said. “We feel patience now will help us hit the field come August.”
At Thibodaux, Dugas led the Tigers through four different morning workout sessions with 20 players each.
Dugas said the main thing was giving the players an overview of where they are now and what they could expect going forward.
“Things are a little different from they are used to, but like I told the kids, I just want to get back out there playing football,” Dugas said. “They just want to get out there and they just want a chance to play again, so whatever we have to do as far as guidelines are, we are going to do. Our main thing is we just want to get back to playing football. We just have to take it slow and make sure we don’t get anybody hurt. We have to stay healthy and I think we’re going to be just fine.”
Valdez said the Wildcats followed the new guidelines and broke their workouts into four groups of 15 players each. The groups stayed together the entire time with their designated coach as they moved through the different workouts.
“We are just hopefully optimistic that we will have everything we need in order to play when the season starts,” Valdez said. “We definitely wanted to make sure they understood the safety precautions for ourselves and our families. It’s important to be patient with us. We have these things in place such as temperatures and screenings. They came in with a great attitude. They were very receptive. I was very pleased by that.”
As the defending Class 3A state champions, Valdez also took time to set the tone for the upcoming season.
“It’s just trying to talk with them about the new normal,” Valdez said. “We also wanted to talk to them about 2019 is over. We haven’t accomplished anything yet in 2020. We have to work on the things we need to do to get better.”
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