BELLVILLE — Dave Carroll has been in the coaching business for a long time, but this is all new to Clear Fork’s veteran boss.
Carroll and his staff, like coaching staffs all across Ohio, began conducting workouts recently amid the COVID-19 pandemic as Gov. Mike DeWine’s office tries to find a way forward in an attempt to restart high school sports in the fall.
That path is especially tricky for contact sports, football chief among them.
The state allowed modified individual skills workouts to begin in late-May as part of Phase One of the “Responsible Restart Ohio” initiative. Phase Two may begin on June 15.
At Clear Fork, players clean footballs with disinfectant wipes after every drill. Quarterbacks aren’t permitted to throw to receivers yet, so receivers work on ball security drills by tossing the ball into the air and catching it themselves.
“It’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing,” Carroll said. “We’re thankful that we’re able to get back at it and do something. That was a long layoff.”
Contact between players is prohibited during Phase One. That has been especially hard on Carroll.
“The hardest thing is you couldn’t hug them and give them a high-five and do those things you want to do because you haven’t seen them in a long time,” Carroll said. “We’ve been texting and those things, but it’s not the same as seeing them in person.”
The 65 or so players taking part in workouts are divided into groups of no more than nine. Clear Fork is utilizing a staggered start in an effort to keep groups separated.
“We start a group every 20 minutes. That’s been a little bit challenging,” Carroll said. “Basketball is doing the same thing, so we’ve had to coordinate with the basketball group. It’s working as best it can.”
School officials this week allowed athletes to return to the weight training facility, as long as precautions are taken.
“Our superintendent let us open the weight room this week so we have a station inside where everybody can social distance. We’ve got plenty of room in there,” Carroll said. “Then we have nine lifting stations outside and our field stations. It’s as good as it can get for what we have.”
Because of the restrictions, Carroll and his staff have gotten creative with their workouts. Quarterbacks throw at barrels instead of receivers while lineman focus on stances and fine-tune footwork.
“We’re still getting work,” Carroll said. “I think next week we’ll be able to start throwing the ball to each other, so that will be huge for our quarterbacks.”
Schools closed in mid-March because of the health crisis. The Ohio High School Athletic Association mandated a no-contact period between coaches and athletes in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“Normally during the spring, we get together before school a couple times a week and have our quarterbacks throw to our skill guys,” Carroll said. “That was taken away from us because of the COVID stuff. We’re a little behind in our passing game, but we’ll catch up.”
There’s still no guarantee the high school football season will be played as scheduled. The Ohio High School Athletic Association is working with DeWine’s office to monitor the phased re-opening.
“These first two weeks have gone really well. All the signs we’re seeing have been positive,” Carroll said. “I’m no expert in this COVID stuff, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve seen a big spike (in positive cases) since we started re-opening.
“Everybody rolls their eyes and shakes their heads at some of the stuff we have to do, but we do it. If that is what it takes to get us back to normal, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
