Seminole County teams return

It took awhile to check the temperature of every player and coach and confirm that all the required paperwork was taken care of before getting started.

But once Lake Mary High School’s first voluntary football workout of the summer began, the Rams were off and running toward what they hope is a return to normalcy.

Monday was the first day Seminole County Public School campuses were opened for outdoor-only workouts, making SCPS the first Orlando-area district to OK offseason training in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak.

Lake Mary met from 7-9 a.m. with some 60 players divided into groups of nine (with one coach) spread across the school’s three outdoor fields. Dots were painted six feet apart in spots to remind players to maintain social distancing during the startup.

Other restrictions included no footballs, pads, helmets, tackling dummies, blocking sleds or physical contact. And no spectators.

It was all conditioning runs and agility drills. The county’s return to training policy is designed to acclimate players to intense physical activity and summer heat after they were mostly locked inside for weeks when stay-at-home orders were enacted on April 1 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“We were just out there running around, but that is the main thing we need to do right now,” Lake Mary coach Scott Perry said. “Our first priority is just getting kids back into shape. It’s been a long layoff.”

High school teams in the Orlando area have not been allowed to meet on campus or with coaches for workouts since schools were shut down in mid-March due to the pandemic.