State teams are taking cautious approach to return to athletics
Throw caution to the wind? Not when the safety of studentathletes is at stake.
The majority of Connecticut’s four-year colleges will have student-athletes return to practice by this week at the latest. The colleges plan on taking a “walk before you run” approach to new levels during the coronavirus pandemic.
Like everything else with COVID-19, there are phases that athletic teams need to go through as they attempt to deal with the new normal or as normal as things can be without any games in the next couple of months.
Sacred Heart football coach Mark Nofri provided a pretty good look into what the Pioneers are dealing with.
Two weeks of protocol when Nofri’s players lifted four days a week and run three times ended on Monday.
“They are pretty much working out five days a week, they don’t do anything on weekends, we have to give them two days off,” Nofri said. “After two weeks starting [Monday], I can go lift, conditioning and I can go one hour three days a week of individual workouts with our pods so once we start our pods of 10 for lifting, they can stay in the pod and start doing individual work for two weeks. That will bring me to Oct. 5, I can now start adding a helmet and shoulder pads and we can go with pods of 50 so we will have one practice with 50 kids with helmets and shoulder pads and we will do the same practice
with a pod of 50 for another hour. if everything is good to go, there are no outbreaks, we are following the protocol, Oct. 19 I can come together and start full-contact practices, basically have spring practice in the fall.”
Programs across the state are dealing with similar timelines. Yale is finishing up physical exams for student-athletes so training for the fall sports can proceed.
“We estimate them completing their physicals around [Monday] and then we are going in stages,”
Yale Director of Athletics Vicky Chun said. “Obviously the state has stages, but the Ivy League has progressive stages and so right now we are zero, no contact, nothing is happening and once they get their physicals we have been working really hard so they can get their training in but not practicing as of yet.”
Hearst Connecticut Media reached out to every Connecticut four-year college to get updated return to practice plans.
Bridgeport is not having organized practices this semester according to UB Interim Director of Athletics Kate Smullen. A couple of other programs opted not to reveal the plan to
hold practices in the fall semester citing the unpredictable nature of things due to the coronavirus.
Here is a look at what some of the state’s colleges are planning to do.
⏩ Central Connecticut State: Athletic facilities were closed for two weeks after students were able to return to campus. Studentathletes were required to have a negative test for COVID-19 at least two weeks before arriving on campus. To participate in practice, team meetings or weight training, they must present a COVID-19 symptom checklist daily.
⏩ Coast Guard: Started on-field practices in the middle of August. Studentathletes
were tested once arriving on campus and are required to wear masks during practices.
⏩ New Haven: Students moved back to campus Aug. 18-21 and there was a two-week process of student-athletes undergoing medical clearance checks with New Haven’s sports medicine department. Teams were allowed to begin in-person practice as well as lifting and conditioning sessions on Sept. 8.
For indoor sports, groups are limited to six people in the gym including coaches while the number is 10 including coaches for outdoor sports.
⏩ Southern Connecticut State: No-contact team
workouts began on Sept. 14 with nine student-athletes and a coach in a group. The next phase is set to start on Sept. 29 and will feature larger groups including 25-30 for football.
⏩ Trinity: Workouts for 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors began on Friday and will be evaluated after two weeks. Each sport has developed a set of practice plans that have been approved by Trinity’s COVID action team that includes sports medicine professionals, administrators and coaches. While masks will be required and physical contact not allowed at the start, the hope is that restrictions could be relaxed later in the semester
based on virus transmission levels on campus and in the community.
⏩ Wesleyan: The athletes and their teams will be able to start phase 1 workouts after being released from the initial 14-day quarantine and completing medical clearance. Phase 1 will be limited to 10 people, Phase 2 from 25-50 and Phase 3 including 100. The decision to proceed from one phase to the next will be made by the athletic director with input from Wesleyan physicians and athletic trainers.