‘It’s a lot different’: High school sports teams open Phase I of return amid coronavirus
Whistles rang out and, just like that, sports were back in Horry County Schools.
Well, mostly back.
Monday began Phase I of the return to fall sports. Teams across the county were able to gather and work out in groups of 10 with conditioning and agility the main goal of the day. No shared equipment, including weights or balls, were allowed to be used.
“A lot of planning went into this from everybody – the state, the district, us as football coaches, and our athletic trainers have been a huge part of this as well. They don’t get enough credit for what we’ve asked them to do to keep us and the kids safe,” said North Myrtle Beach head football coach Matt Reel. “It’s a big task, but they’ve met and exceeded what we’ve asked them to do.”
Phase I of fall sports workouts require masks for coaches and non-participating players, frequently sanitized equipment, and social distancing of at least 6 feet between all coaches and players. These guidelines, along with the restrictions on usage of balls for the first two weeks of Phase I, make it difficult for coaches to prepare for the fast-approaching school year and sports seasons.
“This is different from what we’ve done in my seven years here, but this is what everyone is dealing with. We’ve got to be able to roll with the plans put in place and do our best to prepare,” Reel said. “We can’t do any strength training program right now, so we want to get our kids as close to conditioned as we can be so that when Phase II comes around, we’ll be ready for that.”
In a normal year, Reel’s program would be deep in conditioning and closing in on the start of summer football practice, often starting the first week of July. With the school year ending virtually and no organized team activities until Monday, the players and coaches are feeling the pressure of starting much later.
“It’s a lot different because we normally have our kids from February until January with our fourth block and then football workouts in the summer,” Reel said. “There’s no doubt we’re behind, there’s no dancing around that and sugarcoating it. We are not as far along as we need to be, but we’re doing the best we can right now.”
At Myrtle Beach High School, music and the voice of head coach Mickey Wilson blared from the loudspeakers at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, as players and coaches gathered to begin workouts. At the end of the first round of workouts, JJ Jones and Ryan Burger, two key returners from last year’s Class 4A Lower State champion team, walked toward their cars drenched in sweat. The players are not allowed to use shared facilities, including the Seahawk Field House locker rooms, and had to clear the practice area within 10 minutes of the end of drills to make room for the next wave of Seahawk football players to get screened by athletic trainers. Not far away, members of the Myrtle Beach tennis team, a “low-infection risk activity” according to the SCHSL, began work for their upcoming season using the same guidelines.
While it’s not thumping of pads, blocking and tackling drills, and full-out preparation, it’s a step in that direction. Phase I will remain in place for the foreseeable future, as the SCHSL collaborates with the governor’s office and DHEC to establish protocols to move into Phases II and III.