Jon Mark Beilue: Peeling away an onion's layers

WT athletics ramps up progress for return for fall sports season

West Texas A&M University athletics, like the entire sports world, went into forced hibernation three months ago with COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions. With the official start of summer just a few days away and the fall sports season coming into focus, those coaches, athletes and athletic departments who were put on hold are stirring and stretching – and hoping.

“We got 90 days to go,” Michael McBroom, WT athletics director, said June 9, “and if you look back 90 days, a lot has happened. I’m an optimistic person by nature. That optimism has been tested a lot the last three months, but I’m encouraged where things stand right now.” 

That means the fall sports of football, volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer beginning on time the first weekend in September. And with that, fans will be able to attend with few restrictions.

Those big-picture decisions won’t be made by WT or any university, or even by the NCAA. For the Buffs, the state of Texas and The Texas A&M University System will make those determinations.

“The biggest thing is the word ‘fluid,’” said Sarah Ramey, associate athletics director for health, performance and development. “That’s been our favorite word since March when we met two days before hosting the regional basketball tournament to come up with a plan to restrict fans to two days later having all sports stopped. Everything was changing.

“This has been like peeling the onion. You peel off one layer and there’s another layer to think about and another scenario to figure out as to what are the best practices for the athletic department.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott moved to Phase III on reopening the state on June 3. If the reopening continues without a second surge by the traditional start of the fall semester, sports venues in Texas, and specifically on the WT campus, should not look much different than a year ago.

“It remains to be seen how different it will be for fans as more data comes in,” McBroom said. “If I were asked that question 30 days ago, I would have said, ‘Yes, it will be quite a bit different.’ Now, I’m not so sure.

“Certainly we’ve established protocols for procedures for athletes and officials because Sarah and Luke (Kaspar, director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer) have been directly involved in crafting those things.”

McBroom said national providers that work the University venues, like its contracted concessionaire Aramark, will have standard policies across the country which will be implemented at WT. Restrooms also may have different procedures.

Precautions for athletes

As June arrived, athletes could begin working out in a more organized manner. Some Lone Star Conference schools opened their weight rooms in late May. WT opted to wait a week to open its weight room.

“We wanted to give it another week or two,” Ramey said. “We encouraged our student-athletes not to go to their local gyms as they were opening to be guinea pigs. We wanted to be prudent in that area.”

Ramey and her staff are cautious with athletes who have not lifted seriously in about three months, allowing for tendons and ligaments to adapt to the time off.

“We have to be smart in our approach,” she said. “Time is on our side especially with our winter and spring athletes. All the kids are so excited to get back and are chomping at the bit to get going, but we have to be cautious.”

WT is following the state guidelines for fitness centers – and then some. Social distance guidelines are 150 square feet of space per person. WT, with a maximum of 19 using the weight room at one time, have around 400 square feet per person.

Texas fitness center can increase to 50 percent maximum on June 12, and WT plans to expand accordingly on June 15. 

For monitoring athletes’ health, Kasper and his staff take an inventory when an athlete returns if he’s been around any who have been COVID positive or those who have been sick. There’s a checklist of 10 to 12 symptoms to go over.

Temperatures are monitored as well as checking the oxygen saturation levels in the blood for oxygen flow.

Should athletes test COVID positive, they will be put in isolation that severely limits contact as well as contact tracing to see with whom they’ve had recent contact. Before an athlete can return, he not only has to test negatively but also pass a cardiac clearance test. Kasper said studies have shown about a 7 percent chance of heart injury with COVID.

If, in a worst-case scenario, multiple COVID cases prevent a game from being played, LSC schools will deem it "no contest," not a forfeit.

Not an issue yet, though it will be in August, is locker room capacity and sanitization. Kasper will work with coaches on a workable plan.

“Increasing roster sizes poses a challenge for some of the coaches from a pure locker use (standard),” he said. “We’re still restricted on who can use the locker room right now to keep the numbers minimal. We don’t have to worry about that yet, but further into the summer, it’s going to be a focal point.”

Reduced schedules

What is an issue currently for McBroom and Buff coaches is recently passed NCAA legislation cutting back the number of games in all sports in Division II, pitched as cost savings in the COVID-affected economy.

“We opposed that. I opposed that. The conference opposed that,” McBroom said. “If we had waited 30 days and revisited this, it might be a different outcome. ‘It is what it is’ at this point, and I hate that term.”

Football goes from 11 games to 10. Volleyball is reduced from 26 to 20 matches. Soccer will drop from 18 to 14 matches. In basketball, the reduction is from 26 to 22 games. The cuts will come in non-conference games.

“Our objective is how … to position ourselves for the best opportunity for our teams to still advance to the NCAA championships,” McBroom said. “For us right now in football, do we fly to California (season opener Sept. 5 at Azusa Pacific)? Will Western Oregon come here (Oct. 3)?

“We don’t know that yet. We’re trying to refigure all our schedules and right now that’s like trying to put together a puzzle with all these pieces on the table.”

You might say it’s fluid.

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for “WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?” If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu.