By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
The swimming & diving coaches in the East Valley are still looking for answers as they try to plan for the 2020-21 season.
The UIL issued some guidelines for the upcoming competitive year, like limiting the number of teams allowed to compete at a meet to eight. The district certification date is set for Jan. 30, regional meets will take place Feb. 5-6 and the state meet will be Feb. 19-20. But everything in between is left open to each district’s interpretation, Brownsville Veterans Memorial coach Frank Sanchez said.
Sanchez said districts can decide when they’ll start practicing and competing. Brownsville ISD and Harlingen CISD swim/dive teams won’t begin either until their respective schools start face-to-face instruction, which won’t be until at least Sept. 28 due to current Cameron County orders.
The delayed start and continued closure of the BISD and HCISD aquatic centers are keeping schedules empty for the Brownsville Veterans and Harlingen South programs, and dates unknown for District 32-5A and 32-6A meets.
“As far as fall, it does not look like we might have a fall season. But we may be able to squeeze in one or maybe two competitions prior to our (District 32-5A) meet. I might just be doing dual meets or tri-meets to get the kids some competitions,” Sanchez said.
Hawks coach Hector Castaneda Jr. said HCISD’s top priority is “the safety of our kids, our community and our families,” and decisions about the season’s schedule are still pending.
“Everything’s still up in the air, and everything can change any day,” Castaneda said. “Meets are going to be very difficult to come by this year, it really just depends on what’s going on. The UIL wants only eight teams per meet, but even then, in my district at HCISD, whenever we have our meets, and I hope we do, we want to restrict it to only four teams. It’s just one of those things where we want to make sure our kids are safe.”
While questions remain about schedules, coaches are turning their focus on preparing their athletes as best they can for a season without access to water. Castaneda said his Hawks got two weeks of pool time while Harlingen South held its summer strength and conditioning and sport-specific instruction camp in June, but since then the workouts have been virtual and on land.
“I’m sending out workouts for our kids to do,” Castaneda said. “The thing is, some of these kids have equipment and some of them don’t, so it’s really a lot of body weight conditioning and the focus is on working on their core, working on their legs, a little bit of chest and arms, just very basic and nothing too difficult, because the last thing we want is for them to hurt themselves.”
Sanchez said Brownsville Veterans is focusing on running and strength training to build up the “major muscle groups” that are important for swimming. He said it’s tough for the athletes to be training primarily on dry land, and that he and his coaching staff will take a vigilant approach to determining practice routines if and when they can return to the water.
“Most of the kids that swim are, they’re good athletes, but they’re not as good on land as they are in the water,” Sanchez said. “So it’s very frustrating to some of these kids that can’t get in the water and train and condition the way they’re used to. I’ve already had some kids tell me they’ve been working out all summer and have gotten a lot stronger, and that’s where they’re really anxious to get in the water and see how much stronger they’ve gotten.
“The good thing is I have an assistant, so we’ll get them to do some general sets in the water, and once we see where they’re at, we can have my assistant coach take these kids that need a bit more work, and I can work with the other group and give them more advanced sets,” he continued. “It’s going to be tough because the season’s going to come quicker with less time to condition, but at the same time I don’t want these kids to get hurt pushing it.”
Though it will be a season like no other, both coaches said they’re keeping positive attitudes and hoping a season will happen, particularly for the seniors.
“I’m very excited for this year. I have a young group, but I have some seniors that will be leading the pack,” Sanchez said. “My heart goes out to those seniors if they don’t have a season. That really gets to me, and that’s for all sports. Hopefully things will change.”