Many high school athletes in Greeley practiced all summer for the love of the game. Now, many fall sports seasons are postponed.

By Jenna VandeBrake

In June, high school athletes at Greeley-Evans School District 6 got the green light to begin summer practice.

Robert Billings, the Director of District Athletics and Activities for  said district administration collaborated with neighboring districts and health experts to make this decision.

Billings and his team put together a strict phased plan based on the National Federation of High Schools COVID-19 recommendations. Each phase lasted approximately two weeks .

Coaches were required to attend a 45-minute training on procedures and guidelines with Billings, the district head nurse and the director for custodial services before starting each new phase.

According to early guidelines, all practices were to be held outside in groups of 10 or less, meaning coaches had to plan extra practice times to accommodate the smaller group sizes. Greeley West High School’s head football coach, Jason Renouf, said during this phase he and his wife spent more thanfive hours checking students in each day.

“We do temperature checks on every student, every athlete, and we ask them all these questions (fever, nausea, vomiting, etc.), and if they say yes to any of them, we have to send them home,” Renouf said in June.

In addition to the check-in process, students couldn’t use any shared equipment, including footballs. In the next phase, students will be allowed to use shared equipment within their cohort groups. Students will stay in the same groups and work with the same coaches at each practice to limit risk of infection.

Despite the limitations placed on summer practices, coaches and students remained optimistic.

“Since we can’t use a football, we can’t use gear, we’ve had to really focus on those basic fundamentals,” Renouf said.

At the time of the interview, Renouf didn’t know whether they’d have a fall season, but he and the team wanted to prepare for it.

But as of this week, the Colorado High School Activities Association called off most fall sports – including football. Those sports are now scheduled to take place during the second half of the year, according to a report by the Greeley Tribune.

“We’re excited to hear something finally, also to hear that we still have a season. It hasn’t been canceled at this point. That was exciting news,” Renouf told the Tribune.

For the time being, sports such as cross country, softball, boys tennis, boys golf will carry on with their usual season.

“We’re able to get our basic plays, at least the idea of how they work,” said Greeley Central Wildcats’ head football coach, Jeff Priestly in an interview with the NoCo Optimist earlier this summer.  “I mean you can’t really truly execute it because you’re not supposed to do any contact, but it really has been helpful as far as terminology and what we’re supposed to be doing on our play calls.”

When asked why the district decided to start summer practices in June, Billings said the goal was to get kids and coaches back together for the social and emotional well-being of the coaches and student athletes.

And students responded positively.

“You would think that we would hear something about not being able to throw a football, but they are not complaining about it,” Renouf siad. “I feel like they are getting something out of what we’re doing. I’m really proud of the kids for how they’ve stepped up and adapted,”

Renouf said Greeley West had more students show up for summer football practices than during a normal season, increasing from 40-60 students a day to 80-95.

Billings noticed the same thing across District 6 sports programs. More students participated than in previous years.

Priestly said practices create a much-needed outlet for students.

“The game’s important to them, and they love to prepare. They want to work hard to be the best they can be, and if we can give them that opportunity to do that right now, I think that’s important,” Priestly said. “This is something that they love and grab a hold of and that they get to go do for two hours and go through a lot of physical exercise. I think it gives them something to really look forward and be excited about in this tough, tough time that we live in.”