It was the news that Bradford Area High School athletes and their coaches had been waiting for.
And at Monday’s school board meeting, it was delivered.
Presented by BASD athletic director Mike Erickson, the athletic department’s comprehensive health and safety plan was approved by the nine-member board. The plan, which is thorough and unique to each of the sports that Bradford offers, was required by the state before any high school could resume their offseason activities.
“There’s been hundreds of hours put in amongst many people to put plans together and the administration has really gone above and beyond putting everything together,” Erickson said.
“Our main focus is how do we proceed while keeping faculty, staff and students healthy. Ultimately, some restrictions had to be made.”
Erickson had a nearly two-hour long meeting with his coaches on Tuesday night and the next step is for each of those coaches to have meetings with parents. Once those happen, workouts can begin for each fall sport as early as next Monday.
Right now, the plan is for just fall sports to be included in the first phase of reopening.
“We are going to take a phased approach and once the fall sports have successfully proven that they can go through without any problems, then we can move forward with the others,” Erickson said.
The highlights of Bradford’s plan:
– Athletes and coaches will each undergo a screening before setting foot on the field or in the weightroom. That screening includes a temperature check and a questionnaire to see if anybody is showing symptoms of COVID-19.
-Masks will be worn by all coaches and staff.
-When students are actively working out, no masks are required. But during down time (water breaks, team meetings), six-foot distancing and mask-wearing will be enforced.
“If you aren’t going to wear your mask, you can’t come,” Erickson affirmed. “It’s as simple as that.”
– There will be no community water sources available and there will be no access to the locker room. Athletes must bring their own beverages and come dressed and prepared for workouts.
RATHER than group activities, the workouts will instead focus on “individual skill building,” according to Erickson. Scrimmages will gradually be phased in, but he said it’ll likely be awhile before you see offenses and defenses line up against each other at a football practice, for example.
“It’s not going to be like how things have been in the past,” Erickson noted. “But things can change as we get new guidance from the CDC and the (Pennsylvania) Department of Health.”
Erickson, who also serves on the District 9 Committee, noted that he’s been in contact with other athletic directors on a daily basis in regards to what has and hasn’t worked in their school district since reopenings began, but noted that it’s tough to compare one district to another because each has their own “hurdles” to go through.
“My main focus with the coaches (at Tuesday’s meeting) was to tell them that we have to be rigid and follow guidelines, but also leave room to be flexible,” Erickson said. “If you stand back and look at it, we are lucky to be even able to do that. The alternative is nothing.”
Erickson, who will begin his second full school year as Bradford’s AD in the fall, said that he will be at the school every day monitoring the workouts, but that he doesn’t want to micromanage his head coaches. Instead, he’s trusting them to follow the rules that have been put in place by his department.
“I will definitely be around everyday, and I think they all understand what I laid out at the meeting. But if we aren’t following the guidelines, we will shut it down,” he said.
But like most things surrounding the coronavirus, things at Bradford High are fluid. What is required today may change or be amended tomorrow.
The goal, though, remains the same: keeping the athletes safe.
“If we can’t stick to these guidelines, we can’t move forward,” Erickson said. “The focus is to keep our kids, faculty and staff healthy and safe throughout the summer.
‘We are probably going above and beyond what is required (by the state), but I think it’s much better to err on the side of caution here.”
