By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
The rapidly increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state of Texas have brought many athletic programs to a standstill.
School districts across the Rio Grande Valley began announcing postponements of their in-person summer strength and conditioning programs as early as June 16, one week after facilities were allowed to open by the University Interscholastic League.
Harlingen CISD and St. Joseph Academy, a member of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, continued to offer summer programs at their respective facilities after most East Valley districts halted, but administration for both decided to suspend workouts effective Monday.
“With the recent updates from our county judge advising citizens for at-home shelter and the current spike that’s going on, we felt it was the right move to wait … and do our part in containing the spread,” SJA director of athletics and football coach Tino Villarreal said. “We think it would be socially responsible for us to wait with the city and the county, let the July Fourth week pass, and hopefully start seeing a decline in the spread.”
Villarreal said SJA will hold a meeting to re-evaluate the situation July 10, with hopes to reopen the facilities and in-person workouts July 13. Harlingen CISD athletic director Robert Davies said a definitive return date hasn’t been set for HCISD, but it would be no earlier than July 13.
Davies said HCISD consulted with local health professionals and considered messages from Gov. Greg Abbott and Cameron County officials.
“We had some conversations with some people from Valley Baptist, and they talked about possibly a limited number of beds (and ambulances), and we didn’t feel like we wanted to be part of a problem,” Davies said. “It had nothing to do with our coaches or our kids, they were doing a tremendous job. We learned a lot and we’re very pleased with the protocols we had in place, and the way that our coaches and kids went about following those. It’s just an abundance of caution.”
Davies added that he was pleased with the systems in place at Harlingen High and Harlingen South and how well student-athletes followed the guidelines. He said participation did dwindle last week, but the turnouts were strong.
“I’m very proud that we didn’t have any kind of outbreak or spike as a result of what we were doing,” Davies said. “We felt like during the time they spent with us, coaches did a great job and kids did a great job of keeping everybody safe.”
Most districts that suspended activities two weeks ago, or never got started, have not announced potential start dates for their programs. The UIL released a statement Wednesday “recommending schools consider closing summer workouts, rehearsals, practices and instruction between July 3-July 12” due to the upcoming July Fourth holiday, which some believe could cause further spread of the coronavirus.
“For schools in areas experiencing community spread of COVID-19, this temporary suspension will reduce risk of exposure and provide an opportunity to review current plans and re-evaluate local context in order to make informed decisions moving forward,” the UIL statement read.
Lyford athletic director and football coach Israel Gonzalez said the Bulldogs were hoping to pick things up again July 13, “but with the numbers the way they are trending, we are just going to have to play it day by day, very fluid situation.”
Los Fresnos athletic director and football coach Patrick Brown said the Falcons “won’t make a decision until the end of next week, at the earliest.”
As student-athletes are once again being kept from school facilities, programs are turning back to at-home workouts and Zoom meetings to keep kids active.
Villarreal said SJA is using this week to issue challenges to its athletes before picking up with hourly Zoom sessions for group workouts next week, which the Bloodhounds will continue to use if they can’t return to the school July 13.
He and Davies both called the bit of extra time their respective athletes and coaches got to spend together beneficial and emphasized the importance of face-to-face interactions, which they hope to pick up soon.
“You can only do so much hoping to create workout plans you can give them and doing Zoom workouts … those are great, but there’s nothing like being in person with your team. Any moment we had extra was a godsend,” Villarreal said. “We hope we’re the first school back out there here in Brownsville. We want to be aggressive but responsible. I love having a strong administration that backs our decisions to say, ‘Well, if it is up to us and the county and city officials allow us to be out there, we’re going to be out there.’”