Wednesday marked the first day of summertime contact in Wisconsin and Mother Nature cooperated.
Athletes in southeast Wisconsin who returned to school to participate in off-season conditioning and team workouts were greeted with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-80s.
Most of the students had not spent much time on campus since Gov. Tony Evers cancelled in-person instruction in March to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. July 1 marked the end of that order and the first day of allowable summertime contact for WIAA schools.
Schools will be allowed to host off-season conditioning and weight training as well as school-sponsored summer coaching contact days for all its sports provided they follow the safety guidelines set by their district. Fall and winter coaches will be allowed the standard five days of contact, not including condition and weight training. Spring coaches will be allowed up to 30 days of contact, a one-time allowance given due to the cancellation of the entire spring season.
Here is how Day 1 looked at various spots around the area.
A trip to Saber Country
After months of sitting empty, the parking lot next to Franklin’s stadium was lined with cars as large groups of students returned to campus for the first time in months.
“It’s great to have kids back together,” Franklin athletic director Jordan Hein said. “This is way beyond wins and losses and trying to improve ourselves as athletes. It’s more of a sense of being part of a team and being part of a group with a bigger purpose.”
The weight room opened at 6:30 a.m. By the end of the morning members of the boys track and field and baseball teams were inside the school’s stadium complex getting in some work while doing their best to maintain a social distance.
In addition to the standard five summer contact days and conditioning opportunities, Franklin will take advantage of the additional contact days provided for spring sports.
Hein said about 50% of the school’s spring sports athletes have signed up to participate. Overall, he expects about 200 students to come onto the campus for sport-related activities over the next couple of days.
The effort is very coordinated.
There is a planned roster of attendees for each outdoor workout so it is easier, if necessary, to trace with whom each athlete has been in contact. In the weight room, workouts are limited to 14 individuals. No one shares equipment and each station is spaced 7-10 feet apart. After each session, the equipment is disinfected for 15 minutes before its next use.
The school came up with the guidelines with help from the district office and city health officials.The goal is not just to keep everyone healthy, but to prove that athletics can be done safely.
“We’re doing as much as we can within the boundaries that are set for us and the standards we are going to hold ourselves to,” Hein said.
The Lancers are back
At Brookfield Central, where the summer strength and conditioning program fired back up Wednesday, the layout of the school looked a bit different than it did in March, the last time students stepped inside.
The cafeteria had been turned into a makeshift weight room for up to 10 people. The gymnasiums had been similarly transformed, as well, Athletes were spaced out by at least six feet during workouts and were required to wear masks. Coaches and instructors also wielded masks and, in some instances, face shields.
But for the 160 or so athletes participating, it was all worth it to finally be back in an official setting.
“Just being back is huge,” Brookfield Central head football coach Joel Nellis said. “I know a lot of our football guys have been doing stuff at Lifetime Fitness or Planet Fitness and that’s great, but there’s something about just being back together and starting this process again. For many of the kids, I think this is the first time back in the building since school was canceled.”
Summer conditioning at Central begins at 7 a.m. and runs for about four hours. In a normal year, there would be over 200 athletes in attendance.
“We had to limit the availability, so we broke these groups up into 25-minute increments,” Nellis said. “We’ve got groups coming in different shifts. There’s currently a waiting list of kids that are wanting to train here but we have limited space. We’re trying to be creative and we had a great response.”
The coaches and instructors hold the trump card in making sure the athletes are wearing their masks and maintaining distance: if you want to play sports in the fall, do your part and follow the protocols.
“I think they probably have operated a little differently than maybe the adults have throughout this time,” Nellis said. “We kind of just stressed to them that this is going to look different regardless of what you’ve done outside of school. This is what we have to do.”
Allow me to reintroduce myself
For Sussex Hamilton and Justin Gumm, in some ways, Wednesday’s arrival on the calendar was like opening a present that had been sitting under the tree for a long time.
Gumm was named the Chargers' head football coach in late January, about six weeks before school and WIAA spring sports were canceled. He was able to hold a team meeting and meet his players during that time, but then “had the rug swept out” from him.
“We have a good senior class that has bought in and have all been good leaders in setting the bar at a certain point,” Gumm said. “But, still, when everything shut down, I was concerned from a standpoint of our expectations and what’s going to get done.”
After months of virtual workouts and online team meetings, the Chargers staff and team were back for their first summer conditioning day Wednesday.
“It was so refreshing,” Gumm said. “We as coaches were as excited as the kids were. To get back into interacting with people, with the kids we’re used to seeing and we’ll be coaching was great. In some instances, some of the kids had been doing things together already, but for me it’s nice to work with the kids that I’ll be coaching but haven’t seen much of.”
Summer conditioning will be the primary athletic activity at Hamilton over the next month as spring sports have opted not to use the 30 contact days.
Senior salute at Nicolet
Seniors can't get back the spring season they lost, but some are poised to have fun in July. Nicolet baseball players Brandon Peace and Jack Meissner are two members of the Class of 2020 who plan to make the most out of this month.
The two were the only seniors on the field for the Knights' first practice Wednesday afternoon, eager to take part in a shortened summer season that could help ease the cancellation of the season due to the coronoavirus.
“We don’t have to be here, we just like doing it,” Meissner said.
When the WIAA approved for this year a one-time allowance of 30 contact days for spring sports – they usually get five – board members and executive staff emphasized that schools had to provide the opportunity to their seniors. One hope for the rule was that it would allow teams to use extra time and play some semblance of a season.
That is the case for Nicolet. The Knights open its "summer" season July 9 with a double header at home against Random Lake. Most of the 14 dates Nicolet scheduled will be played at Maslowski Park, a new all-turf facility it will share with Milwaukee School of Engineering.
“The senior season is a pretty special time, but luckily we get to get something going here in July” Peace said. “I’m looking forward to that.”
The games will serve as a college tune-up for both players. Peace, a right-handed pitcher and outfielder, will play at Ripon. Meissner, a left-handed pitcher who also plays outfield and first base, will play at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
First, however, they’ll enjoy one last hurrah with their high school team.
“That’s the whole point,” Peace said. “That’s the fun part. You get to play with your friends on the field.”
MPS waiting
The start of all athletic activities for Milwaukee Public Schools is on hold until the district gets clarification from the Milwaukee County Health Department on what activities are allowed for its athletes and teams.
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