With no high school sports in Charlotte, doctors, coaches focus to keep athletes healthy
Student-athletes in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools haven’t practiced with their teammates since before schools closed in March, leaving a five-month gap of coronavirus concerns, social-distancing guidelines and individual training.
Formal practices won’t be allowed by the state until at least September, but many CMS fall sport athletes have stayed in touch with their coaches, who have helped them try to stay conditioned in the event their seasons are able to go on.
But if high school athletes haven’t been keeping up, Novant Health pediatric sports medicine specialist Dr. Christian Turner says the time to start transitioning from summer break to fall competition is now.
“(We want to) try and limit the risk of some of those things we frequently see in the fall, which are a lot of times due to the overuse of having gone from a relatively sedentary summer to an intense fall sports season,” Turner said. “(It is) probably just going to be amplified this year. I think we’re going to see some challenges.”
The Observer spoke with Turner and three CMS coaches to discuss guidelines for fall athletes gearing up for a season unlike any other. Here are some of Turner’s tips.
Get ready to exercise — in the heat
Conditioning is key for preseason preparations, but it’s especially important for sports with consistent running, such as cross country and soccer.
Turner suggested if student-athletes haven’t started exercising outdoors, they should take it gradually to mitigate the chance of injury — and they shouldn’t wait for formal practices to begin.
“You don’t want it to be a zero-to-60 thing where you’ve had a couple months where you weren’t doing much and then you go into a full practice,” Turner said. “It’s pretty dangerous for some of the acute injuries and some of the acute overuse stuff where something gets injured because it wasn’t ready to do the high level that the team is going to try and cram into a short period of time.”
If a high school athlete has been lounging indoors with a video game all summer, Turner suggests they start with 15-20 minutes of outdoor exercise that gradually builds up in intensity and longevity. By starting off too fast too soon, Turner warns that fall athletes run the risk of stress fractures, which he says is “pretty high” after coming from a long rest period.
Some CMS high school coaches have worked to avoid forcing a sudden uptick in outdoor activity by organizing offseason conditioning guidelines.
Before summer began, Myers Park girls cross country head coach Lamont Hayes gave each runner a mileage chart and pace chart, showing them how much they should run each day and how quickly. He’s been meeting with the team virtually and said the major difference is that they haven’t been able to meet in-person to put everything in place.
“It’s on the kids to do what they’re supposed to do,” Hayes said. “We’re just putting a lot of faith in the fact that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Butler High School boys soccer coach Kyle Searles requires his team to submit a fitness test over the summer, which times everything from two-mile runs to 25-yard sprints. He said he’s hoping that working through the fitness test will have each athlete at a similar fitness level when they’re able to return to the field.
“I’m a huge advocate for fitness tests in preseason as far as we’re running every single day, seven miles a day,” Searles said. “At the same time, we want to make sure our kids come in fit. That’s the hardest battle to fight for, and I’m sure any coach would attest to that’s the hardest battle — the fight for high school-aged athletes — is them coming in physically fit.”
North Carolina heat adds another layer to the fight for proper conditioning, Turner said. Without formal practices, Hayes is concerned about how his runners are preparing for the heat.
“You just worry about putting the kid out (there),” Hayes said. “Our races are typically 5,000 meters -- three miles -- through the woods. (You get) kind of concerned that when they’re not under your watchful eye … are they doing the proper mileage and intensities to get themselves ready?”
Turner suggests student-athletes that haven’t spent much time outdoors limit their outside exposure to the morning hours before 10 a.m. or evenings after 6 p.m. to keep from overheating.
Update your physical
North Carolina is allowing high school athletes to use their physicals from the previous year instead of requiring an updated one. But Turner cautions that even though it may not be mandatory this year, student-athletes should update their physicals.
“I would argue that it’s probably more important this year than other years, potentially, because there are a lot more variables,” Turner said.
Turner said this year’s visit is important to speak with parents about what proper safety protocols look like, screening for cardiac conditions and identifying other health concerns that could be missed in a year when health is at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
“A lot of the kids that play sports are generally healthy,” Turner said. “It often is the only time of the year that we’ll see our otherwise healthy adolescents.”
Hayes and Searles said they are encouraging athletes to update their physicals even though it isn’t required by the state.
“(It’s) more of a strong, strong suggestion that they go ahead and get the updated physical,” Hayes said. “With these kids, from year to year, things can pop up. I strongly, strongly suggested that they get an updated physical.”
Keep COVID-19 in mind
While preparing their bodies for exercise, high school athletes can’t forget the reason their practices are delayed — the coronavirus pandemic.
For team sports like football, Turner recommends exercising outdoors in smaller groups (10 people or fewer), frequent hand washing, not sharing equipment and trying to keep at least six feet of distance.
“Once we’re in a group, exercising outdoors is better as far as limiting the infection rate with regards to spreading (the virus) compared to indoor exercise,” Turner said. “That’s in part because it’s easier to keep a bit of distance (and) you have better air movement.”
Some CMS football players have been meeting up already. Hopewell High School football coach Jamelle Byrd said he has heard of groups of players getting together to run, condition and play.
Byrd said he spent the early parts of the pandemic installing offensive and defensive schemes virtually, and has since learned the team has been working on those plans informally.
“The fact that we put in a lot of our offense and defense through Zoom and stuff, they’ve been getting together and kind of going over that stuff amongst themselves,” Byrd said.
Back at Butler, the soccer program met in January set its 2020 theme — commit. As a Butler alum, Searles said committing to the program and representing it with honor is personal.
With the coronavirus pandemic, the idea of commitment has changed from workouts and team meetings to social distancing and sanitation. Searles said the soccer players have been reminded to “control the controllables” by keeping these health protocols in mind.
“You have to commit,” Searles said. “Whether we’re going to play one game, a full season, or just have one practice, we’re going to commit ourselves to being ready for those events when they do happen.”