Shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, a steady stream of cars began making the turn off Don Connor Boulevard and into the rear parking lot at Jackson Memorial High School

From those cars — some driven by moms and dads, others by the students themselves — emerged the athletes who populated Jackson Memorial’s athletic facilities on a delightful, partly sunny day with just the slightest tinge of fall on a refreshing breeze.

At Jackson Memorial, and at most high schools across New Jersey, Monday was the first official day of practice for fall sports — boys soccer, girls soccer, field hockey, cross country, girls tennis and football. The only sports not underway are gymnastics and girls volleyball, fall indoor sports, which were moved to the new “Season 3.” Practice begins Feb. 16, 2021 and competitions March 3.

It was the first day high school sports teams conducted practices at the same time on campuses since Gov. Phil Murphy ordered all New Jersey schools closed on March 18. Murphy ended all hopes of a spring sports season on May 4.

“There are aspects about it that felt really normal and aspects that are different,” said Oak Knoll field hockey coach Ali Good. “We just need to find that happy medium and celebrate the fact that we’re out there and take it day by day.”

With many districts in the state opting for virtual learning, athletes finding their own way to practice is just one of the new normals in the abnormal year of the coronavirus. Athletes either wore face coverings or had masks hanging below their chins in Jackson. Across the state, athletes will undergo temperature checks daily — some performed by athletic trainers, some done by the coaches themselves. Athletes arrived to find school buildings, locker rooms and field houses off limits and were told to bring their own water bottles.

“Our intent, while following the guidelines given to us, is to move forward with the intent of actually playing some games,” said Rob Paneque, the athletic director for Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty. “I think everyone from the (Shore) conference, from administrators to the coaches, are united in making it safe for the kids — not just the athletes — every kid.

“You can just see the kids and the coaches missed it. It’s almost like the absence of sports has made everyone realize just how much they love it.”

For athletes from High Point to Cape May, Monday felt like something close to normal.

“The masks look funny on the coaches, but it seems the same to me,” said Kingsway’s senior linebacker-fullback Sylvester Van Morter. “I’ve never wanted to be out here so much than right now. It was a struggle in the summer with the COVID. It feels great to be with my brothers. I was very worried how things would turn out. Right now it’s happening and it feels great. It all seems normal.”

After six months of predominantly bad news for high school sports, those feel-good words were uplifting for players, coaches, administrators and parents.

While the NJSIAA listed Monday as the first day of practice, football and field hockey programs were given the option of starting a “heat acclimatization” period on Sept. 11. Any programs that didn’t start last Friday began heat acclimatization Monday.

According to National Federation of High School Associations guidelines, heat acclimatization is designed to reduce the chances of heat illnesses, which can be caused by “participating in high-intensity, long-duration or repeated same-day sports practices and training activities during the summer months or other hot-weather days.”

Under NJSIAA heat acclimatization protocols, “days one through five consist of the first five days of formal practice. During days 1–2 of the heat-acclimatization period, only helmets should be worn. During days 3–5, only helmets and shoulder pads should be worn. Beginning on day 6, all protective equipment may be worn, and full contact may begin.”

At Manchester Regional, in North Haledon, practices were greeted with enthusiasm after public outcry convinced the Manchester Regional Board of Education to first revisit fall sports and then reinstate them last week. The Board had voted to cancel fall sports in August.

“It was amazing to see everyone together,” said Anthony Colandres, a senior lineman on the Manchester Regional football team. “Everybody was so happy. We were all excited. We were a little rusty, but we got back into our usual flow.

“Everybody had fun,” Colandres added. “That’s the most important thing when it comes to sports. Everybody went home happy, and we were just happy to be back on the field.”

“Everybody was all excited and happy that the Board of Ed meetings and all of that was over with,” Manchester Regional athletic director and football coach Rande Roca said. “It was two weeks of ups and downs. It was really nice to say that’s done with let’s worry about playing now.”

For male and female athletes who lost their spring seasons due to coronavirus, it was a in-person reunion with coaches, classmates and teammates after a forced hiatus. At Watchung Hills, 67 girls were at soccer practice Monday.

“I’m just happy for these kids to get back out here and enjoy what they’re doing after what they went through in the spring,” said Brian Figueiredo, who coaches girls soccer at Watchung Hills and softball at Chatham. “It’s just a genuine excitement to see the kids back out here doing what they love to.”

“It obviously felt a little different since we’re wearing masks and staying six feet apart when we’re not playing, but it was so good to get on the field, be with our teammates and just get in those drills we’ve been waiting for,” said Oak Knoll senior Colleen Quinn, who is the field hockey goalie and missed the lacrosse season in the spring. “Back in March I was really upset and it was a tough thing to think about. This definitely makes it better.”

After a scheduled suspension in workouts in all sports last week, teams now have two weeks to prepare for the start of an abbreviated regular season. Girls tennis begins Sept. 28, field hockey, soccer and cross country on Oct. 1 and football on Oct. 2.

“For us to have a senior season is really big,” said Micaah Garnette, a senior soccer player at Gill St. Bernard’s. “Even if it’s a shorter season, I know a lot of states aren’t even having a season. It’s a great opportunity to get out there and play.”

“I think we’re just really thankful to be here,” said Adam Berrocal, a senior soccer player at Gill St. Bernard’s.

In some conferences, two teams will play back-to-back games against the same opponent — in some cases, with the same officials — to make tracking easier in the event of any COVID-19 issues that may arise.

“The coaches and training staff have masks on the entire time, so that’s different,” Good said. “Usually we gather at the field and it’s a bunch of girls socially interacting and laughing between breaks, sharing water and filling up the water cooler. That’s not happening.

“If you put things side by side to compare there’s a lot that’s different from year’s past, but it’s human nature. Change happens for different reasons, and we’re in a period of change right now because of a pandemic. It’s something we have to change and pivot to. The alternative is not playing.”

The scaled-down regular season will lead into a postseason that will be different than anything ever sponsored by the NJSIAA. In all sports, the traditional classifications, groups and sections are gone and replaced by six regions. Last Thursday, the NJSIAA announced four-team pods will be used for a two-week football postseason. The five football conferences, and not the NJSIAA, will determine the configuration of the pods.

“The playoffs are so far off and there is so much that could happen from now until then,” Paneque. “My concern was getting through today’s practices. Tomorrow I’ll worry about those practices. We are seriously taking one day at a time.”

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Joe Zedalis may be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephzedalis. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook. Staff writers Bill Evans, Brian Deakyne, Evan Slavit and Brandon Gould contributed to this report.