Miles Hansen typically watches practices and games with a keen eye — the athletic trainer attempting to spot subtle twists and sprains, or noticeable fatigue. 

The job now also requires some hall monitor-like duties, but outdoors.

“We’re watching to make sure the kids are six feet apart, giving constant reminders to keep the masks up, making sure all their bags and water bottles aren’t close together, and everyone is following all the rules,” Hansen said as he watched about 200 athletes practice at Our Lady of Lourdes High School. “You’re constantly on your toes and alert to everything.”

Lourdes and Beacon on Tuesday were the first Dutchess County schools to resume athletic activity since March, when schools were ordered closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Section 1, the geographic section of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association in which some Dutchess County schools compete, started is fall season Tuesday for sports deemed low risk. Schools in the Wappingers and Arlington districts opted to delay their beginning until later in the week.

The participating schools are required to follow protocols put in place by the state Department of Health and NYSPHSAA.

Those guidelines led to trainers, coaches and even athletic directors supervising the practices, perhaps, more closely than ever.

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At Lourdes, the entire athletic department, essentially, was outside — even during an evening deluge. Players were restricted from entering the school so everything, from porta potties to a makeshift training room, were set up adjacent to the field.

Cones and markers indicated where each student was to place their bookbag and equipment, and where they could sit on the bench. In the far end zone is a designated “mask break area,” the only spot during practice where players and coaches can stand without a face covering.

Practice times were staggered, starting with field hockey at 2:30 p.m., then girls soccer, and the boys soccer team’s practice was the nightcap, running until about 8 p.m. 

Planning, spending for safety

Hansen was stationed near the entrance of the field, taking the temperature of each entrant with an infrared thermometer and offering hand sanitizer. His medical kits now, he said, include extra personal protective equipment. There also are bag valve masks, devices used in resuscitation in lieu of performing traditional CPR.

As well, Hansen and the school nurses were certified in COVID-19 contact tracing and received Red Cross psychological first aid training to help students cope with the potential emotional strains of the pandemic.

“The atmosphere is different with all the changes, obviously, and a lot of us are wearing a lot of hats,” said Hansen, who has worked at Lourdes for three years. “We’re much busier than ever, but it has to be done.” 

The school, athletic director Bill Kyle said, spent thousands on fogger machines, battery-operated backpacks that spray disinfectant. Those will be used to clean practice equipment each evening.

“This is something I never imagined I’d come across in my lifetime,” Kyle said of the circumstances created by the coronavirus. “But these are things we have to do.”

The field was set up and the safety checks put in place last week, but planning for a potential restart began in the spring, Kyle said. School administrators discussed several permutations and possible steps for the school reopening and a return to sports.

Lourdes had students return to its classrooms earlier this month, opening the school year with the hybrid learning model.

Thus far, Kyle said, there have been no reported positive cases and the system has worked well. Daily temperature checks of the faculty and students are performed, everyone walks in a single file through the hallways, and lunches are ordered days in advance and delivered by Hansen throughout the building.

Other schools to follow

In addition to some of Dutchess County’s teams, NYSPHSAA’s Section 1 includes teams from Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties, many of which began practices Tuesday.

Roy C. Ketcham and John Jay-East Fishkill will begin their practices Thursday and Arlington High School starts on Friday. Pawling withdrew from the fall sports season last week and it still is not yet known if Poughkeepsie will participate this autumn.

Section 9, the region that includes schools from the rest of Dutchess, as well as Ulster, Orange and Sullivan counties, has delayed all its athletic activities to Nov. 30.

Each team of the participating schools this fall is required to complete 10 practices before interscholastic competition begins Oct. 13.

“We have to make sure we’re compliant and do our best to keep everyone safe,” Hansen said. “We’ve got the kids out here, which is a big first step, so now it’s about doing everything we can to keep them out here. Starting the season is great, but we all have to do our part to keep it from having to stop.”

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4