Marysville High School senior football player Caleb Dilsaver begins his workout in the MHS weight room on Monday. It was the first day the weight room has been opened since school facilities were shut down by COVID-19 in March. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Athletics began initial steps toward returning to a phased-in status at Marysville High School on Monday.
The weight room was open for student-athletes, while coaches in various sports began their first day of workouts this summer.
The initial phase of the gradual return to activities amid COVID-19 began with limited numbers of athletes in any given area.
Coaches are mandated to wear face masks during all sessions.
Members of the Monarch football squad arrived before 7:15 a.m. and were split into various groups.
“We’ve got 60 athletes here and we have them divided into different activities,” said Monarch assistant coach Mike Young.
He was helping supervise the weight room, in which 10 athletes were going through at a time.
“We’ve also got 10 guys on our offensive field learning skills and 10 more on the freshman field,” said Young.
“We’ve set up a weight room in the stem school for 10 athletes,” he added. “We have other areas we’re using at the stem school with 10 in each place for skill training.
“It’s gone pretty well so far,” said Young. “The kids are excited to be here and the coaching staff is excited to see and interact with our players, despite all the guidelines.”
There are some coronavirus stipulations for the use of the weight room.
For the next two weeks, there will only be 10 athletes in the facility at any given time. Lifters do not have to wear masks.
Only one athlete is permitted to be at each work station at a time.
“Each lifter must use hand sanitizer upon entering the building,” said Young. “They also have to sanitize any work station before and after usage.
“All of our work during the initial phase of re-opening will be with barbells,” he said. “We will not be using dumb bells at this time.”
Athletes must sign in each day, detailing things such as recent fevers or sore throats.
Young said there may be some parents who have reservations about their child or children participating in the workouts.
“I’m not sure right now (Monday morning) whether that’s happened,” said Young. “However, if they are a little nervous about working out right now and don’t attend, there will be no future repercussions.”
Each athlete is scheduled to participate in workouts four days a week.
The coaching staff will alternate days for supervision.
Athletes rotate from weight room work to outdoor skill sessions.
“We are starting at 7:15 a.m. Monday through Thursday for the next two weeks,” said Young.
“We figure we will finish at approximately 11:30 a.m. each day, so that’s not too bad for working with 60 guys in limited numbers.”
Young said he’s hoping there is an increase in the number of athletes permitted at each station as the summer progresses.
“We’ll just have to get through these next two weeks and see how Phase I goes,” he said.
The Monarch coaching staff is still up in the air about summer camp and seven-on-seven passing scrimmages.
The team usually has two weeks worth of camp leading up to preseason two-a-day practices.
The Monarchs normally have a pair of seven-on-seven scrimmages during the summer.
“All that’s up in the air,” said Young. “We’re trying to be flexible with what we do and make sure we’re in compliance with all of the guidelines.”