The Hart High School Indians were among the first football teams in the William S. Hart Union High School District to begin practicing with pads Wednesday for the first time in nearly a year.
On Wednesday, the Hart High Indians took the field for practice with their pads on for the first time in nearly a year.
“The kids are excited about it,” said Rick Herrington, head coach for the Indians.
Before practices could begin, players were administered COVID-19 tests by a team from Henry Mayo Newhall Urgent Care.
“We go onto the school campuses and test the players before practice,” said Angie Luna, supervisor of the Henry Mayo Urgent Care. “We are testing the teams once a week and once on game days. We are working quite efficiently, with results in 10 to 15 minutes of testing.”
Hart, along with West Ranch were tested on Tuesday, with all of the players at Hart testing negative, according to Herrington.
“Everyone there was negative, which I can’t believe,” he said. “You figure out of 80 kids, there’s got to be somebody positive. But luckily no.”
All football teams in the district will be required to test every week until the county’s adjusted COVID-19 case rate falls below 7 per 100,000. As of Wednesday, L.A. County stood at 7.2 cases per 100,000.
At the practice, players are set up in “pods” of 10 to 12 players. Students then only work with their assigned pods, maintaining social distancing all the while. When players are on the sideline and not actively practicing, they are required to wear a mask. Further requirements are still under consideration by the team and the district
“I’m not too worried about it,” Herrington said. “We’re trying to figure out the mask things with the helmets and mouthpieces and all that.”
See Related: Hart School District Announces Most Outdoor Sports Can Resume ‘Immediately’
All of the teams in the Foothill League have just over two weeks to prepare for the start of the season on the weekend of March 18-20, which Herrington expressed was not a lot of time.
“It’s only seven weeks of work,” he said. “I just hope we can be competitive.”
The Hart District released updated guidance for high school athletics in the Santa Clarita Valley on Tuesday, announcing that practices and competition for most outdoor sports can resume “immediately” thanks to decreased COVID-19 case rates in Los Angeles County.
After receiving athletic protocol updates from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LADPH) and California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the Hart District put together a complete athletic program following all state and county guidelines.
This allows most outdoor sports to begin regular practices and competitions immediately.
“We are very pleased that many of our student-athletes, who have been conditioning only for some time, will have the opportunity to practice and compete in their respective sports,” said Dr. Michael Vierra, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at the Hart District, in a statement Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, Los Angeles County remains in the most restrictive purple tier in the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. In order to move into the red tier and have additional opportunities for re-openings, L.A. County’s daily case rate must be at or below 7 new cases per 100,000 people and the County’s test positivity rate must be at or below 8%, according to the Blueprint.
As of March 2, L.A. County’s adjusted case rate is 7.2 new cases per 100,000 people, and with a test positivity rate of 3.5%, just above the threshold to move to the red tier, according to LADPH officials.
“We are also very thankful to all the coaches, trainers, administrators, and other athletic staff who have put a program together so quickly for our students after the recent announcements from the California and Los Angeles Departments of Public Health,” Vierra said. “We also would like to thank our great partners at Henry Mayo who once again have stepped up to support our students and staff by working with us to put together a COVID-19 testing program that is currently required for football.”
Photo by David Melnarik/KHTS News.
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