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Returning to football with Coronavirus safety guidelines

High school athletes are back to work preparing for the fall season
Posted at 11:51 AM, Jun 29, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-29 13:51:01-04

Football season this coming fall is by definition murky and uncertain.

Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, nobody knows what it will look like - if fans will be allowed in the stands - if we'll even play football at all.

But that isn't stopping the Broomfield High School football team from returning to their summer conditioning program with hope.

CHSAA lifted their moratorium on team workouts in June and left it up to each individual school district to decide how to procede. Boulder Valley School District decided summer conditioning could be done safely and while following state health guidelines.

The athletes are required to take their temperature every day before workouts and fill out a five question survey about their overall health. If any red flags are raised, the BHS coaches and administrative staff deal with it before the athlete takes the field.

All participants, coaches included, are required to wear masks until they can properly socially distance on the field. Once there - the masks can be removed while working out.

The team is divided into groups of 25 players and each group works out for an hour before cleaning down all the equipment during a buffer time between groups. Each 25-person group must stay in that group for two weeks, then coaches can decide to switch up the pairings; however, the new 25-person groups must then stay together for the next two weeks.

Overall, this chance to return action has been a huge mental health boost for everybody involved. The kids are happier, the competition is stronger, and most importantly they're all following the health & safety guidelines strictly to make sure they don't lose this little slice of normalcy they've been given.