Coaches: No cons to Feb. 1 start date

There is no downside to restarting New Mexico high school sports on Feb. 1, according to local high school athletic directors.

That’s the latest date given to high school officials by the New Mexico Activities Association. But as with previously approved starts, the Feb. 1 date is dependent on what health guidelines will be coming from the office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham at that time.

“Pretty much, we have been told that if we are not able to start football at that point, there would not be a football season or volleyball season,” said Clovis Municipal Schools Athletic Director Lonnie Baca, adding that starting these fall sports any later would be pointless due to the fall sports overlapping with the spring sports.

“I don’t see any cons with starting on Feb. 1. I would only see pros to our kids being able to start their sports programs,” Baca said. “That’s the most important thing is that our kids are able to have a season this year. The more we allow kids to participate, the more they become engaged, and I think that’s a healthy thing for them.”

Portales Municipal Schools Athletic Director Mark Gallegos echoed the sentiment.

“We have to be able to see our kids. Coaches get to see their students on Zoom and for the occasional pod workouts, but it’s not enough,” Gallegos said. “We have to be able to check on them. That’s our biggest concern, and that’s every school. And the kids love coming to workouts. Yeah, they’re socially distanced and in a pod, but they are still getting to have social interaction.”

Baca and Gallegos both said their student athletes have been doing conditioning workouts in pods since June, previously with a 9-to-1 ratio of students to coaches and now with a 4-to-1 ratio with current health mandates. They said students distance themselves from each other and wear masks while they work out.

“We haven’t been able to play any sports programs since March,” Baca said. “That was devastating to a lot of our kids who had to stop their spring sports season about three weeks into their season, then we didn’t even get to start this fall season’s sports.”

Both directors said their school districts have been following all of the health mandates, and they would gladly follow whatever mandates are issued at the delayed start of their fall season, if it takes place.

“Depending on what the guidelines are will of course determine whether we can even have a season. We have to be able to practice to play. So, if we still have to have four students to a pod restrictions, we obviously can’t have a season,” Baca said. He said that with some sports, it would be realistic for students to social distance or wear masks while they play, such as track, volleyball, and swimming, but for some other sports, it would not be possible.

“You can’t practice football in a 4-to-1 environment. You have to be able to have full practice. By that time, the hope is we will be cleared to play. I’m sure we’ll still have to follow certain protocols. Just to get kids on the field to be able to practice and play, we’ll do whatever it takes,” Gallegos said. “The downside is you’re going to have to adjust and follow guidelines, but Texas has done it all season. We are just asking to be allowed to do the same thing - to participate and manage it.”

Shane Perkins, athletic director for Farwell Independent School District, said Texas schools were allowed to return to sports in August.

“It’s been working great. It was kind of the unknown when we started back in August. Even now, we are week-to-week and game-by-game. It’s a lot of unknowns. But it’s been really good,” Perkins said. “We had some (COVID-19) cases, but one thing we’ve done from the very beginning of the summer when our kids started working out is stress the safety factor and taking care of yourselves and family. I think it’s more everybody being on the same page of let’s keep our kids and our coaches as healthy as possible, so we can keep our kids playing.”

He said school district officials clean locker rooms and sports equipment every day, and anyone not playing wears masks and practices social distancing.

He said the few cases of the virus that popped up among students were immediately quarantined, which avoided spreading the virus.

“I think it can be done. If you look across the country at all the states that are doing high school sports right now, it can be done. It just takes a lot of work to get it done,” Perkins said. “During those hours they are at school, they are about as protected as they can be. It’s crazy all the cleaning that we’re doing.”

As for Clovis and Portales schools, Baca and Gallegos both said they and their students are willing to do whatever it takes to get back to participating in their sports.

“We say it’s a con,” Gallegos said of having to adjust to whatever restrictions they will have while playing. “But you won’t find a single coach who won’t be willing to follow them. They’re just so excited to play that we’ll follow whatever directions we’re given to follow.”