Fairbanks High School quarterback Ethan Kise throws the ball during a drill on Monday. The Panther gridiron squad is a week in as far as getting back to business after the COVID-19 shutdown. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
The re-opening of the Fairbanks High School football program began its second week on Monday during limited workouts.
The program, like all other prep sports, had been closed down since the middle of March due to the coronavirus.
“Things have been going all right the past week,” said FHS head coach Patrick Cotter. “It’s business as usual, but we’re farther away from each other.”
Panther gridders are working out in the weight room in limited numbers. In the meantime, others are going through skill drills and cardiac conditioning at other locations on school property.
“We’ve got 46 guys on the team and we’re running them through in various sessions,” said Cotter.
“We have four sessions in the mornings from 7:30-11:30 a.m. and another one from 5:30-6:30 p.m.,” he said. “That way, we won’t have any crossover among the guys.”
Cotter said he and his coaching staff sanitize each station in the weight room on a regular basis.
Each session lasts 45 minutes for lifting.
“It takes us only 10 minutes or so to do that,” he said. “It’s not slowing us down too much.”
Cotter hopes activities progress to Phase II next week, when more athletes will be able to gather in any one location.
“Our weight room can hold a capacity of 50-plus people,” he said. “Hopefully after this week, we can go to the next phase.
“The big thing is we hadn’t been able to get into the weight room for the past three months,” said the coach. “I know a lot of guys worked out on their own at home, but it’s not like getting into the weight room with your coaches and teammates.”
Many people have wondered what contact sports such as football will look like in the fall.
Cotter offered his opinion on the subject.
“As long as the different phases proceed as we hope, it’s going to look like football,” he said. “The field product won’t change, as long as we’re OK to get out there and do what we’ve been trained to do.”
As a result of COVID-19, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) has lifted restrictions on the number of coaching days each sport may conduct this summer.
Cotter, however, isn’t going to have his squad on the field all the time.
“Kids want to be kids during the summer,” he said. “If they want to go on vacation or they are playing summer baseball, that’s fine.
“I’ve told the guys that the month of June through early July belongs to them,” said Cotter. “From the middle of July, it belongs to me.
“However, we’re not going to drive the kids into more than we should.”
Cotter said skill drills and conditioning workouts will continue at times, leading up to more of a camp-type atmosphere.
“I think things will progress as we go through the summer,” he said.
“We just want to go slow in order to go fast (later on).”