Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Area schools starting their offseason sports programs.
Tucumcari High School girls basketball captain Reece Goldston guides teammates in stretching exercises Monday morning at the gym, the first day the New Mexico Activities Association allowed off-season training during the coronavirus pandemic. Coaches, who were required to wear masks, checked their players' temperature before workouts, and all were required to maintain social distancing in five-person groups.
Tucumcari High School girls basketball coach Gary Hittson guides his players through a balancing drill Monday morning at the gym, the first day the New Mexico Activities Association allowed off-season training during the coronavirus pandemic. Boys basketball players were scheduled to work out in the afternoon. Volleyball and football players will begin off-season training in early July.
The athletic director at Logan High School detailed the restart of athletic practices in the coming weeks as outlined by the New Mexico Activities Association.
Athletic director Billy Burns gave a report about those plans during the Logan Municipal Schools board of education's regular meeting June 8 at the Nara Visa Community Center.
The NMAA's eight-page "Guidance for Return to Play" indicates the state is in the midst of Phase One in prep sports emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. It emphasizes individual skill development and workouts but not contact with others, no sharing of equipment, and no games or scrimmages.
The guide recommends that schools thoroughly clean facilities and encourage athletes to shower and wash workout clothing immediately after returning home.
The NMAA said schools should consider strategies to prevent groups from gathering at exits and entrances and possibly implement staggered start and end times for workouts.
The NMAA advises no gatherings of more than six people at a time, with pods of five students working with the same coach to limit possible exposure to the virus. Social distancing also should be observed.
The association states all coaches and students should be screened daily for symptoms of COVID-19 before practices, including a temperature check. Anyone with a body temperature higher than 100.3 degrees should not participate and would be sent home to self-isolate and call his or her doctor.
Athletes should wear face coverings when arriving or leaving but are not required to wear them during workouts. Coaches and screeners should wear masks at all times. Athletes should bring their own water bottles, as water fountains would not be used. Locker rooms will remain off-limits.
On Wednesday, the NMAA amended its "Guidance for Return to Play" rules that allow the use of weight rooms. Weight equipment should be wiped down before and after use. Resistance training is emphasized because it doesn't require a spotter. Free-weight exercises that require a spotter are forbidden. Weight rooms should not exceed 50% capacity.
During workouts all equipment, including balls, should be cleaned after each use and prior to the next workout.
The NMAA has deemed cross-country, track and field, swimming, golf and tennis as lower-infection risk. Moderate risk are volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball and soccer. Higher-risk are football, wrestling, cheerleading and dance.
No guidance is yet provided for Phases Two and Three.
Tucumcari athletic director Wayne Ferguson said in a Facebook post last week his school district would begin off-season training for athletes Monday. Rattler Gymnasium would be used for three weeks for basketball, then football and volleyball the following three weeks. Workouts would be for current Rattler athletes only.
Burns noted during the meeting the state of Oklahoma recently allowed its high-school athletes to return to workouts with no restrictions.
"Oklahoma is going to find out for us whether it's going to work out or not," he said.
In other business:
- Superintendent Dennis Roch said the alternate location for Logan's June 27 graduation ceremony is First Baptist Church Dalhart at 1000 E. 16th St. in Dalhart, Texas.
Logan initially scheduled its graduation at its football field but may move it 70 miles northeast into Texas if the New Mexico's public-gatherings ban remains in effect at that time. The time for the ceremony will be 10 a.m. Mountain time at either venue.
Roch said there would be no liability problem for the school district if someone contracts COVID-19 at an off-campus event such as graduation.
"Our district's liability coverage extends to all school-sanctioned events on or off campus, including such things as participation at state athletic tournaments, county & state spelling bees, and attendance at professional development conferences and workshops," Roch stated in an email. "This event would be no different from a liability standpoint."
Dallam County, where Dalhart is situated, has confirmed 25 cases of COVID-19.
- The district found some cost savings from the two-month closure due to the coronavirus. Logan Municipal Schools saved more than $33,000 for electricity, water and propane, according to an activity account report.
