Oakland public schools resume some team sport conditioning during pandemic
Oakland schools resume conditioning for some team sports
Oakland Unified School District is resuming some team sports. Coaches say it couldn't come soon enough. KTVU's Debora Villalon reports it's for no-contact conditioning and that safety guards are in place.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland public schools are resuming some team sports, and coaches say it couldn't come soon enough.
In a letter to OUSD families, the district specified cheerleading, cross country, girls volleyball and football teams could start up limited activities.
Conditioning began this week, and participation will grow as student-athletes complete their physicals.
"This is an extremely big step for us in Oakland," said Joe Bates, Head Football Coach at Skyline High School.
Thursday evening, Bates supervised a workout by his varsity players.
"Get your bodies back right, let's go, it's been about a year," he encouraged as they ran sprints.
The session was held at Castlemont High School, with its squad sharing the field.
"Just to be back is a beautiful thing," said Ed Washington, the football coach at Castlemont. "Sitting at the house, for these kids, is a no-go."
Everyone wore masks, there were no practice bags or even footballs to touch.
Contact is not allowed, as social distance remains the goal.
And there are no actual games; the focus now is conditioning, not competition.
But coaches say it's important that the students are together and have something to do, somewhere to go.
"Outside of hanging out at home, on the Playstation, the Zoom, in the streets, or getting involved in the negative things big cities have to offer," said Bates.
Ever since the lifting of stay-at-home order, sports advocates have been hoping for change.
"Every single sport is suffering, there has been 3 million kids on the bench since March of 2020," said Patrick Walsh, who has been the football coach at Serra High in San Mateo for 20 years.
Serra, a private school, has had athletes on campus since early in the pandemic, working out in cohorts with precautions.
Walsh has become a state leader in the campaign to restore youth athletics.
"Why not open up sports, which we know, from 47 states playing across the country, that it's safe to play outdoors," he said. "Let's follow their path, let's give it a chance."
Realizing that programs in other states had more influence, Walsh formed an alliance of 800 California youth coaches, called the Golden State HS Football Coaches Community.
It has made its case directly with Governor Newsom, his staff, and State Health Director Dr. Mark Ghaly.
A parent-led initiative called "Let them Play" has also galvanized public support, with more than 60,000 Facebook followers.
Leaders acknowledge the seriousness of the pandemic, but point to only a handful of COVID cases across the country related to youth sports, despite more than 1 million workouts.
And they believe it's more dangerous to ban sports than to play them.
"We are focused on the mental health, the anxiety, the depression of our kids," said Walsh, "and we know sports isn't the answer to everything, but it would go a long way to bringing hope back to their lives."
The two Oakland football coaches admit they're worried about players who haven't returned yet.
They are aware of a few who have dropped out of school during the pandemic.
"When COVID came around, everything just stopped, it was heartbreaking," said Simeon Milan, a senior at Skyline High School.
Milan is holding onto hope there might still be an abbreviated football season this spring.
"It means a lot, so I'm going to give this my all and keep working hard, so if we have a season, I'm ready."
Players from both high schools were noisy and enthusiastic as coaches put them through their paces.
"Just the energy of these boys is off the charts," said Washington, "and they are very excited to get busy, they needed this."
Guidelines provided to parents include daily temperature checks for student-athletes, along with health questions.
Equipment isn't to be shared, and should be sanitized often.
Spectators are banned, and parents are to wait in their cars.
But just being on the field with friends feels like a victory to the athletes.
"The brotherhood and the life skills from this sport are second to none," said Bates, who says his own experience playing football at Skyline changed his life.
That was 16 years ago.
"To me, the football field is the biggest classroom on any campus, because there's so much teaching done there."
Debora Villalon is a reporter for KTVU. Email Debora at debora.villalon@foxtv.com and follow her on Twitter@DeboraKTVU