ASU to restart with volunteer workouts
Arizona State will begin the daunting task of restarting its athletic program next week even as coronavirus cases are spiking in the state and other colleges are dealing with athletes testing positive as they reopen.
ASU plans for 27 football players including quarterback Jayden Daniels to begin voluntary workouts in groups of nine starting Monday provided they are cleared following physicals including COVID-19 testing for those returning to Tempe from another location.
Additional athletes will join in ensuing weeks with priority for football, volleyball, soccer and the men's and women's basketball teams. Athletes traveling domestically to Tempe will have a seven-day quarantine period and those traveling internationally 14 days before being allowed to participate in the voluntary workouts with strength coaches.
Organized team workouts are not allowed until July 13 at the soonest for football based on a recommendation by the NCAA football oversight committee that still must be approved by the NCAA Division I Council.
"The Pac-12 and our institutions will do what we believe is in the best interests of our the health and safety of our athletes," ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson said Friday. "If another conference decides to go ahead and play at all costs, that would be on them. We will play as our medical and health experts and the fluidity of the situation dictates.
"We all want to play football. It's important to us financially, everyone knows that. But we're not going to play football in the Pac-12 and certainly not at ASU at any cost. We'll make our own determination within our conference and institution by institution."
Anderson addressed the myriad of details involved in bringing athletes back during a video conference that included Jean Boyd, deputy athletic director, Aaron Krasnow, ASU Health Services associate vice president, and Shanyn Lancaster, ASU sports medicine section chief.
Krasnow said "this plan would not be this plan" if ASU did not have enough COVID testing capability for all students including athletes. "We have plenty (of tests), more than enough," he said.
ASU researchers are developing a saliva-based COVID test that at some point could be used in lieu of nasal testing. "All of those are available to us," Krasnow said. "Where we want to get as a society is a minimally invasive efficient test and the saliva test is a world leader in that regard. We're working in the direction to make sure that is available to as many people as possible, which includes athletes."
By dividing athletes into smaller groups for workouts, it will be easier to do contact tracing if someone tests positive. Athletes will be required to wear masks while in school facilities and during workouts.
ASU President Michael Crow announced Friday that employees, students and visitors are required to wear masks while on campus in part due to the increase of COVID cases in metro Phoenix.
"The cases in Arizona are concerning," Krasnow said. "Our plan still fits within our current circumstance in Arizona. This is all fluid and if there was guidance from the county or from the state, CDC or our local experts, we would have adjusted the plan. That's part of our daily conversations with all of those parties.