In mid-March an executive order by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb shut down all school facilities and canceled the spring sports season to slow the spread of COVID-19, leaving athletes to keep in shape on their own.
Last week, high school sports programs were allowed to return to in-person training and team activities. For the first time since the closures, coaches were able to see their athletes and evaluate their fitness levels as they eased them back into training routines.
“I would say we’re definitely not where we are normally in July,” Columbus North football coach Tim Bless said. “We definitely haven’t put the pedal to the medal. We’re trying to re-acclimate them. The other thing last week is, the heat was pretty oppressive, as well. But my staff and I were encouraged that our kids were in better shape than what we thought they might be.”
Most teams have avoided the most intense heat of the afternoon. North football trained three mornings and one evening the first two weeks, while Columbus East football trained in the mornings.
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East football coach Bob Gaddis said about 25 percent of his players were in good physical condition, 25 percent were not in good shape and the other 50 percent were about average.
“We anticipated that they may not be in good shape,” Gaddis said. “We try to ease into it. We didn’t want to do too much too early. I thought they handled it pretty well. I told them I thought they exceeded their expectations. We’re still going to try to build up their conditioning. Our main goal is to get them in condition these four weeks. It’s kind of like the old days when you start practice, and they hadn’t done much in the summertime. You don’t want to risk injury.”
David Young, who is entering his second year as North girls soccer coach, remembers being able to train three or four days a week in some weeks last season when the Bull Dogs had only one or two games those weeks. He put his team through workouts through Zoom calls while the schools were shut down.
“I would say that it’s definitely not a typical July,” Young said. “The level of fitness right now from where we were last year is definitely down, but I feel like our team as a whole came together. The girls worked out together. There were some that didn’t do much for their workouts, but I would say the majority of our girls came in, and they were ready. I don’t think we’re at a bad level. I think all the girls were pushing each other in the offseason, and they’re excited about being out here, which gets us excited as coaches.”
Veteran East girls soccer coach Ilya Schwartzman, who is a doctor, has stressed not putting his players through too much conditioning too soon.
“We have some kids who are very fit and have been training on their own and have maintained a great level of fitness,” Schwartzman said. “We also have some players who haven’t trained very much, and that was expected. We knew there was a probability that some were going to require some extra fitness work. We’re just trying to work everybody in gradually, especially with the temperature as hot as it has been.”
Typically, teams can hold voluntary workouts and play in summer tournaments and other contests during the month of June. But that was canceled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That left players to find a way to train without their teammates.
“I feel like our fitness level, all things considered is reasonable,” North boys soccer coach Andy Glover said. “I feel like fitness-wise, we’re sort of chasing things a little bit. But since we didn’t have a month of June, I feel like we’re in a good place.”
Josh Gonsior, who takes over as East boys soccer coach after 10 years as an Olympians assistant, felt the same way.
“I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised at the fitness level,” Gonsior said. “You can definitely tell the ones that have been training on their own and the ones that haven’t. We’re easing them into it, and they’re happy in that regard.”
Probably the easiest sport to gauge an athlete’s fitness level is cross-country since it involves times. In that regard, East boys coach Ryan Burke is satisfied with the fitness level of his runners.
“They’re not where we would normally be at this time of year in a normal year,” Burke said. “But I am really happy with where they’re at. They are in a good spot, given all the circumstances.”
North boys cross-country coach Danny Fisher and girls cross-country coach Rick Sluder are thrilled with the way their runners trained on their own during the four months that schools were shut down.
“Our fitness level right now is unbelievable,” Sluder said. “They have done everything they could from March through now. They really have taken it upon themselves to stay in shape. When we were able to communicate with them, they did everything we asked. They are in as good a position as they were last year.”
