Area coaches react to return to play

HAMPTON – There may be a lot more than usual guidelines to follow, but following the governor’s proclamation on Wednesday, May 20 that summer sports practice could start on June 1, the governing bodies of the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced play could resume.

The IGHSAU and IHSAA met after the governor’s announcement and both groups voted to approve the 2020 summer seasons under Iowa Department of Education guidelines.

Practices begin June 1 and first competition will be June 15.

“If we can get back to having some sort of normalcy in our students/athletes lives then we should make every attempt to do that,” Bulldog baseball coach Matt Lokenvitz said, who is entering his ninth, albeit truncated, season. “The obstacle during this time will always be safety.

“So, as long as we can safely bring people together without the risk of sickness, then I think it is a good thing.”

There are a lot of guidelines that both softball and baseball will have to adhere to that was provided by both the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

Among the guidelines is asking fans to bring their own seating and/or stand rather than use the bleachers during games.

First-year West Fork baseball coach Tom Shreckengost was excited about the news.

“It’s awesome!” Shreckengost said. “Not sure how it will look; social distancing for sure for fans, I would think.”

During practice, set to begin June 1, use of dugouts are not permitted; players should use their own gloves, helmets and bats as much as possible; and players must bring their own water/beverage to consume during and after practice. No shared drinking fountains, portable hydration stations or coolers may be used.

AGWSR softball co-head coach Brenda Drake was excited about the chance to return.

“I think it’s good, especially for the kids,” Drake said. “The seniors have lost so much already. I think they will try to work it out that we keep everyone as safe as we can. It won’t be ‘normal’ by any means but it will give them a chance to compete and be with their friends. Hopefully, things go smoothly and we’ll have a post-season, too!”

Coaches are responsible for ensuring social distancing is maintained between players as much as possible, meaning additional spacing between players while playing catch, changing drills so that players remain evenly spaced out and no congregating of players while waiting to bat. Other coaches’ responsibilities include sanitizing equipment before and after each practice and being knowledgeable of their students with pre-existing health conditions and work with school nurses or other health officials to take additional precautions as needed.

They are also responsible for tracking absences for the purpose of noting potential COVID-19 cases.

Spitting sunflower seed shells is also prohibited.

Lokenvitz had a lot of questions beyond the guidelines.

“What will transportation look like with social distancing in place?” Lokenvitz said. “How much sanitation will we be expected to do during practices and games? Will we need to wear masks? Will we need to limit the roster sizes and practice with limited participants? Are the umpires willing to officiate games and will it look the same as before? What type of limitations will they put on pitchers and how will arms handle only two weeks of organized practice before games?

“A lot of things to consider when trying to get things started back up.”

Spring sports seasons never began and were ultimately canceled on April 17 following the cancellation of the in-person K-12 schooling for Iowa’s 2019-20 academic year.

The original first practice date was May 4 for baseball and May 11 for softball.

“The guidelines laid out by the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health will enable us to safely move forward with a softball season this summer,” IGHSAU executive director Jean Berger said. “We are grateful for their leadership and support.

“We know the games will have different circumstances and that we will all have to work together to keep everyone safe, but we are confident that we are up to this challenge.”