With limited practice over Zoom, the sports coaches are trying to get the students to be able to return back on campus for practice. All sports still have to follow health guidelines or they risk being forced to go back on Zoom. The sports that have been admitted to go back on campus are swim, softball, cheer, baseball, cross country, girls basketball, boys and girls soccer and track.

Swim conditioning was finally cleared to go back on campus and swim in pods of eight people. Each person is only allowed to talk with the people in their pod, and they can’t go talk to people outside their pod. Swimmers go in person to swim every Tuesday and Thursday. If some families aren’t comfortable with sending their kids to swim on campus, they can still do workouts through Zoom. Though not the same as swimming, the workouts are still very effective.

Softball conditioning is also cleared on coming back. They come to condition in-person once a week on Thursdays and do Zoom conditioning on Tuesdays. They work in small groups, but for those uncomfortable going in-person, they can do workouts from home.

Cheer is also having optional in-person practice. They are currently practicing cheers, the fight song and doing workout circuits socially distanced.

Baseball is allowed on the field for conditioning only, and they keep 12 feet distance from each other at all times. The students have a designated space to put their bag and workout, marked by white lines, and they make sure not to share equipment. They have multiple groups that go on the field at different times to ensure there aren’t too many students at once and run in their lanes to keep the distance. 

“I really applaud the coaches for making practices fun without being able to do any real baseball activity,” said Jacob Villar, a senior on the baseball team.

The coaches’ favorite activity is jump roping, so the students each bring their own. The practices are optional to put no pressure on students who are at high risk or concerned about COVID-19.

Cross country athletes are wearing masks and keeping six feet apart all times they aren’t running, and they keep eight feet when they are running. The team is also divided into groups of 10, and each group will meet in person to practice with a coach three days a week, with specific groups assigned to specific times of specific days. The other four days of the week, groups will practice on their own without a coach and meet up with the rest of the team on a Zoom call for warm up stretches. If an athlete doesn’t feel comfortable returning to in-person practice yet, they are welcome to use Zoom and practice on their own.

Girls’ basketball is currently conditioning on the outdoor basketball courts. All players need to stay six feet apart and wear masks. Students can stay online if they are uncomfortable going in person. All workouts are streamed through Zoom so they can follow along. Students go in Mondays and Wednesdays, and the rest of the week is on Zoom.

“The coaches are encouraging safety guidelines as well by wearing masks and social distancing. But that also doesn’t stop us from doing air high fives just so we can still motivate each other while following guidelines,” said girls’ basketball player Layney Grider.

Boys’ basketball is not on campus, but they practice on Zoom doing workouts that focus on strength and conditioning. 

Girls’ volleyball is not yet on campus. Students do yoga on Mondays and Tuesdays for mental health awareness. Students have a required workout of 45 minutes on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Some varsity students practice at the club volleyball gym in small groups, and everything has to be sanitized.

Boys’ soccer has been changed from a winter sport to a spring sport. They will most likely not go back on campus until next year. Students still have Zoom meetings and are required to workout with the rest of the players. 

Girls’ soccer is also not on campus yet, but they condition through Zoom. They do Zoom team workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays and some players do other training outside of the online format as well. Their Zoom workouts consist of fitness and ball skills.

Track is practicing three days a week. Students have the option to practice from home or on-campus. Students wear their masks when they aren’t running or exercising and keep six feet distance when getting ready to run. When students are on the track, they get separated into every other lane so they don’t bump into each other. 

Football is back on campus and students do not have the choice to stay on Zoom. They keep 15 feet distance from each other and wear masks the whole time. Anyone who misses a practice has to run the next practice.