High schools hit pause button on workouts amid virus worries
Many high schools that recently hit the play button have paused summer workouts, but it has nothing to do with temperatures soaring into the 90s.
The move is directly related to the surge in COVID-19 cases. And teams now hope it won’t be long before they can resume.
July has already been an eventful month for Pennsylvania high school sports. Last Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf made it mandatory that face masks be worn in public spaces outdoors when a distance of 6 feet cannot be consistently maintained. A day later, Allegheny County ordered that gatherings of more than 25 people were prohibited for one week and recommended that residents stay home during that period to prevent transmission of the virus. Then on Tuesday, Allegheny County reported 204 new cases, making it the eighth consecutive day the county has had at least 100.
Because of last week’s announcements, a slew of high schools, particularly in Allegheny County, have decided to shut down workouts. Bethel Park, Central Catholic, Gateway, Highlands, McKeesport, Mt. Lebanon and North Allegheny are among the more than 20 schools taking a break until at least July 13. Some WPIAL schools from other counties are doing the same. That list includes Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem and Washington, among others.
Gateway was one of the first WPIAL schools to begin workouts, getting started June 19. The football team practiced until last Friday before electing to take a break. Coach Don Holl, who is also the school’s athletic director, said everything was going smoothly and appeared to be headed in the right direction before last week’s news.
“It 100% looked like that,” Holl said. “The old rule of thumb is, if you’re driving a car and the check engine light comes on, you better pull off the road. We didn’t have that. There were no symptoms, no positive cases, and we were following the guidelines to a T. Kids were complying with everything. There were some modifications, but it seemed a lot like normal. Then, bang, we get hit with the mask thing. And that’s understandable. They want people to revisit their plan and modify it. And then Allegheny County asked people to stay at home. That combination made us hit pause.”
It’s the same story at McKeesport, which had kicked off its workouts June 25. No teams have been on the field this week.
“We were told to shut it down,” athletic director Charley Kiss said. “Basically, with the new order from the county, we wanted to make sure the kids kind of stayed away this week. Plus, it’s excessively hot.”
Some schools have decided to keep workouts going. Or, in Pine-Richland’s case, get them started. Rams football coach Eric Kasperowicz said July 6 had long been his team’s planned start date. The Rams held their first workout Monday, and Kasperowicz said it went even better than planned.
“We didn’t rush things,” he said. “A lot of schools rushed into it and might not have had the best plan. I think with two extra weeks we were able to put a good plan in place to where we’re able to get out there and stay out there.”
During Monday’s two-hour practice, players and coaches were broken up into groups of 25. Kasperowicz said everyone was wearing masks, and players had them on about 90% of the time. If they were 6 feet apart from someone and needed a breather, they were allowed to take them off. Because of the extreme heat, Kasperowicz said, there were lots of water breaks. In total, the Rams will work out three times this week.
In Westmoreland County, the Norwin girls soccer team has continued workouts this week after kicking off July 1.
“The staff and administration created a plan that took every precaution they could think of and has been adjusting it based on the current status and circumstances going on,” coach Lauren Karcher said.
In Beaver County, Blackhawk football coach Zack Hayward said his team is working out this week, making sure to limit the groups to 25 people or fewer in addition to wearing masks and social distancing. Hayward said footballs haven’t been added to the mix yet.
Central Catholic football star Elliot Donald said he doesn’t have a problem with not having workouts this week. The Vikings had gotten in six through last Friday. Like many players, Donald said he will work out on his own or with small groups of friends this week.
“The biggest thing is, I don’t want to take any risks and get it and then give it to my grandparents,” he said. “I’m good with whatever they need to do to keep everybody safe.”
For a lot of teams, things were moving right along until this week. The hope is the stoppage will be brief.
“The best thing right now is to take a week off and make sure everything is good to go,” Holl said. “We all hope to turn it back around.”