Eagles’ coaches excited to get started

Andy Sherman was experiencing a bevy of emotions Monday morning. Sauk Prairie’s boys and girls cross country coach was thrilled that a new season was starting. The beginning of fall sports marked the first WIAA event since winter sports were halted on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Sherman was giddy to get going, he also fully understands we live in a much different world than we did the last time he gathered with his athletes. So caution, common sense and carefulness will be themes all season long. “I am excited to see the team, many of which I was supposed to work with last spring,” said Sherman, who is also the Eagles’ track and field coach. “But I am also cautious and worried about our team, their families and our coaching families.  “No sporting event is worth getting someone sick. Daily we will be reminding our athletes that this could go away at any point. We need to remind our community to follow the guidelines, wear their masks in public and do their part to help us be able to not only get the chance to compete this fall, but to also finish our season.” Heather Slosarek, Sauk Prairie’s girls tennis coach, felt the same. “We are extremely grateful to get the opportunity to move forward with our season,” she said. “As a teacher and coach, I am thrilled to be back around student/player energy again.   “Many of our players are multi-sport athletes who have had to put participation in their normal routines on pause throughout the spring and summer months. I believe all of them are eager to hit the courts again, even if it will be a little different this season.” Girls tennis, girls swimming, and boys and girls cross country started their new seasons at Sauk Prairie Monday. Football, boys soccer and both boys and girls volleyball are slated to begin Sept. 7. For those that kicked off this week, things will look much different. Here’s how:   CROSS COUNTRY • Sherman is staggering practices for the boys and girls, so they won’t be in the same spaces. This will clearly help limit exposure.  • Student-athletes will be regularly checked for symptoms of COVID-19 and will wear masks when not actively training. • Athletes will work out in small groups instead of larger packs, and Sherman and his staff will be constantly educating their athletes. • Larger invites have been removed from the schedule. Instead, Eagles’ athletic director Josh Boyer is putting together a schedule filled mostly with dual meets, which will limit larger gatherings. “Overall, I am excited to get back to work in person with our teams,” Sherman said. “They are such great people.  “I know that any time we get together will be treated with gratitude and understanding how lucky we are. But they will also understand the responsibility needed to make sure we do everything within our power to follow the guidelines and procedures so we don’t lose out.”       SWIMMING • Head coach Melani Guentherman said the Eagles won’t ever have more than 10 girls at a time in the pool. That means Sauk Prairie will run two practices each night throughout the year. • Girls will be masked when they enter the building and the pool. Coaches will also wear masks on deck. • Locker rooms will be limited to one or two girls at a time to help limit contact. The same approach will be taken with weight room workouts. • There will be no relays at meets, and girls will be masked when not competing at meets. • There will not be spectators for meets, Instead, the district will live stream meets so parents can watch their daughters compete. “We are all thrilled to get started and have at least some type of season,” Guentherman said. “We will still push the girls and provide a framework for them to push themselves, but safety is a paramount concern this year. The part that will be the same is our enthusiasm for the sport and joy of seeing the girls compete and have fun!”              TENNIS • Players will be required to sanitize their hands before and after entering the courts. • Players must keep personal items six feet apart, maintain social distancing at practice, and wear a mask when not participating in physical activity.   • The Eagles have an extremely large team and will split into two practice squads, which in turn will then be split into three groups. Approximately 6-8 players will be assigned to two courts for an entire practice, which should help limit contact.   • All equipment (other than tennis balls) will be sanitized between uses, and players will be advised to use ball hoppers or their racquets to pick up or move balls on the court.   • Players will be assigned their own balls in matches, so they don’t touch the balls of someone from another team. • All meets will be duals, as large invites have been eliminated. And to meet travel restrictions, varsity players will compete at one site and the JV will play at another. “We used to do more rotations, but now we are looking to assign one coach to one group of players for the entire practice,” Slosarek said. “We will try to keep a little bit of normalcy with the types of drills and activities we do in practice.  We are also making our Wednesday practices themed to help build team unity and bring a little excitement onto the courts.   “We are used to traveling as a team and cheering one another on throughout a match, but it will look a little different to meet the Phase 2 guidelines from the health department. While we have adjustments, we feel lucky to have an outdoor, singles/doubles sport that only needs minor tweaks to continue. We extend hope to the other sports that are still waiting on knowing whether their seasons can be adjusted and move forward.”