By now you've probably heard that the School Committee voted last night to approve Fall Sports starting on September 18th. The exceptions were football, volleyball, and cheerleading, as the MIAA and Hockomock League had pushed those to the "Fall 2" season that starts in late February. The School Committee vote was on the condition that the Board of Health also gives its approval, which should happen in the next several days.
If you were unable to attend the Google Meet today, here's what we covered regarding What We Know and What We Still Don't Know.
When does practice start? Friday, Sept. 18th. School starts Monday the 14th (remotely).
What do I need in order to be eligible? Registration will be done online this year. The link isn't available yet, but should be out soon, and I'll e-mail it to everyone. One thing you CAN do in the meantime, is check with your parents/guardians to make sure you have an updated physical. Physicals expire after 13 months. Our season is scheduled to go through mid-November.
When will we have practice? Every day after school, with optional practices on Saturdays. Typically we start at 2:30, but that might get moved a bit later since students need to have their own transportation. (No buses provided to pick up/drop off kids to practice, in other words).
What if I can't make a practice due to transportation? Us XC coaches have a meeting next week with the athletic director, I'll ask him then what the recommendations are regarding that.
What will practice look like? So we got lucky compared to other sports, the modifications we have to adopt are relatively minor. Runners should train in groups of 5-10, which we usually do already. The "trouble spots" will be when everyone's warming up, or cooling down, to keep the groups separate from each other. So if we're doing drills on the track, instead of 30 kids in 6 lines, we might have 3 groups of 10 athletes spread out along the straightaway.
Do I need to wear a face covering? Yes and no. While you're running (this includes races), you don't. However, the "down time" as you're waiting for practice to start, you need it on, and once practice is over, you need to have it on.
What does our meet schedule look like? The dates haven't been announced, but we will have the five dual meets against the other teams from our division (Attleboro, Franklin, King Philip, Mansfield, and Milford - they replaced Oliver Ames). There won't be state postseason meets, and it's expected there won't be invitational meets since they don't want teams from all over competing with each other. There could be a league-type postseason (modified league meet, perhaps), but as of now it's just the five dual meets.
However, we will incorporate some time trials during the season to provide more opportunities for competition, even shorter distances on the track if needed.
What will meets look like? Obviously they wanted to avoid having dozens of athletes on the starting line at once. The suggestion is having groups of 5-10 athletes start every 2-3 minutes. For example, Runners 1-5 from Taunton and Runners 1-5 from Attleboro would line up on the starting line. (With 14 feet between teams, and 6 feet between runners, so it'd be a wide starting line). After two or three minutes, the next group from each team would do. You could still beat someone from another group, we would keep track of the actual time people ran in terms of scoring.
At the finish, the last 100 yards would have two "lanes" so athletes from each school aren't finishing alongside each other.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. I'll keep this page updated as we get more news regarding schedule, attendance, etc.
15 DAYS UNTIL PRACTICE STARTS!!!
