Syracuse, N.Y. — The rapidly evolving list of lifestyle changes mandated by the coronavirus swept across the high school athletic fields of Central New York on Monday, bringing a whole new and essential look to athletes emerging from a depressing spring and summer.

Masks are the must-have gear for the return of scholastic sports, a simple but monstrously annoying strip of fabric that will hopefully keep everyone safe and playing throughout the fall.

West Genesee girls soccer coach John McCloskey clearly spelled out the tradeoff for his players before the start of his team’s first practice on a sunny Monday afternoon. It was the official re-start to a high school sports calendar that had been frozen by the coronavirus since March.

“When I found out this was the rule, I was like, gosh, this is going to be really hard. And, again, it is,” he said. “But if at any point you guys are feeling frustrated about this, I want you to try to think back to last spring when we got sent home and we all had to isolate and quarantine and you didn’t really get to see your friends or parts of your family. And we had to adjust. You had to adjust how you come to school, you had to adjust how you go to the store, you even had to adjust how you’re at home at times, aren’t you? Now we have to adjust on the field. It’s just that simple. It’s either we do this or we don’t have soccer. So are we all in agreement that this is worth it?”

The raised hands of 25 Wildcats players entered in the affirmative, and with that the Wildcats were off and running on a season that seemed like it would never come.

Lower-risk sports such as soccer were permitted to start practicing again in Section III on Monday. West Genesee’s workout opened with McCloskey checking his players’ temperatures, and they all fell within the safe range.

He then lined his players up along a sideline, six feet apart, to spell out the mask rule. According to the state Department of Health, any athlete participating in a practice or game where social distancing is not feasible must wear a mask.

“This is going to be tough. I know that,” McCloskey said. “Soccer is an anaerobic sport. You are constantly breathing in and putting out air. I get that. I know this feels like a huge challenge. It is. But I think that we’re going to get used to it.”

The DOH built in one important loophole to their mandate, however. Players who can’t tolerate masks are allowed to remove them. Unfortunately, the DOH did not specify what constitutes intolerable conditions.

“There is no definition of toleration within the guidance that we’ve received up until this point. Will there be additional guidance provided by the department of health? That’s to be determined by the DOH,” said Robert Zayas, executive director of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.

“But when it comes to making that guideline more restrictive, I think it becomes almost an issue because if you’re going to require a student-athlete to provide medical documentation that they can’t tolerate a face covering, that’s going above and beyond the guidance that we’ve received from the department of health at this point in time. I think we have to read the guidance and interpret the guidance as it’s written and try not to take it too far because taking it too far could be overstepping the guidance as it’s been proscribed.”

West Genesee’s Salt City Athletic Conference, as well as other area schools, are tightening the DOH guidelines even further. To avoid confusion the league is requiring all athletes in competition or practice to wear masks, period.

McCloskey said soccer coaches will build in extra breaks during practices and games that will allow players to pull down their masks for a quick breather. Also, athletes will be permitted to briefly yank aside their masks if play moves away from them and there are no other players around.

Still, even after just a few minutes of mask-wearing drills Monday it was obvious the huffing and puffing Wildcats would need time to adjust to the extra layer. The same will likely be true of athletes across Section III.

“I think it’s going to be harder than playing without a mask. But if we get to play, then I think we have to (wear one),” West Genesee senior midfielder Sarah Petrus said during a break in action Monday.

“I definitely think it’s doable. It’s not what we’re used to, but with everything going on it’s necessary,” West Genesee senior defender Gabby Mitchell said. “I think the way that the restrictions are set up allow us to still play and maintain distance and stay safe.”

In a fall sports season that will likely continue to totter between doable and doubtful, coaches and players are adamant that extra inconveniences will be worth the payoff.

“It’s kind of a combination of some stress, for sure. You want to make sure that you’ve got every duck in a row and that you’re ready to do all these new rules that we need to follow,” McCloskey said. “But at the same time, I was excited. It’s a beautiful day for soccer. The sun’s shining. There’s not a cloud in the sky. I haven’t been around these girls, together, in a long time. So for me, I just keep coming back to the sum of what we get from soccer and the joy we get from it is always going to overrule the weirdness of playing it during Covid.”

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Lindsay Kramer is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? He can be reached via email at LKramer@Syracuse.com.