The PHS Athletics Department has started conditioning for several sports at the Witter Field Complex, Director of Athletics Bradley Smet said.

The sports currently in conditioning are football, baseball, softball, waterpolo, volleyball, lacrosse, and boys basketball, Smet said. Girls soccer might be added soon.

Junior lacrosse player Corinn Richards said the first practice was incredibly refreshing.

“[You get] to see people who you would not see over the screen, which is a good way to socially interact distantly,” said freshman water polo and lacrosse player George Stein.

Richards said it was strange to be conditioning since it was with one of the largest groups of people she had been with in a long time, but she adjusted quickly.

“It also is fun to see people I would not choose to hang out with,” Richards said. “I didn’t choose [the teammates] to be in a pod, and so it’s nice to expand socially.”

Stein said there are two surveys athletes have to fill out as a health check before practice each day.

“Then we [the team] meet in the Witter parking lot and the coaches make sure we have filled out the survey,” he said.

After that the teams will split up into pods of fourteen athletes with one coach, Smet said. Some teams, however have more coaches like football and boys basketball, so they will have coaches who stand away from the pods and oversee the workouts.

Ezra Trost-Goldhammer, freshman and water polo player, said that the team has two pods split up into upper-classmen and lower-classmen.

“Usually we have one or two coaches that lead the [workout]. We have team captains that get a text message of the whole workout at the start, then we split off into sections,” Trost-Goldhammer said.

Right now they are doing individual workouts like running, going up the stairs, and push-ups, Trost-Goldhammer said.

“We’re not using equipment because we moved back to the purple stage in our county,” Smet said.

In the event of an athlete on one of the teams getting COVID the entire pod would be required to quarantine for two weeks, he said.

“It would be communicated to the parents [and] communicated to the school district if anyone tests positive,” Smet said. “When they’re at home we’re putting the responsibility on our students and our families to make sure that they are following through with [quarantining].”

Trost-Goldhammer said that the athletes are following the guidelines very well during practice and outside of practice.

“For example, football practice got cancelled today because of the rain but we’ve still got about ten kids out here that decided to come out and do the workout on their own,” Smet said. “All of them are wearing their masks and maintaining their social distancing.”

Trost-Goldhammer said the coaches always emphasize safety at practices.

“From what I’ve seen it looks like our athletes are really trying to pay attention to [the guidelines and COVID] because they know it is kind of on them to make sure they are following these procedures [and] to make sure they can have their sports,” Smet said.

Trost-Goldhammer said it’s really important for him to be able to go outside, see his teammates, and talk with them. It’s better than any online workouts, he said.

“When I exercise and move my body I feel more confident academically as well,” Stein said. “It is definitely a healthy way to just keep yourself moving because you’re sitting on the screen all day.”

Smet also said how big of a deal it is to get away from the screens.

“We just wanted to be able to get our athletes, our kids, and anyone who wants to be involved out here to get some interaction, get them away from their screen,” Smet said. “You guys spend so much time now, staring at your screen, interacting through a camera.”

Richards said her mental health has improved significantly.

“I come out if [conditioning thinking], wow that was actually really nice and really refreshing and something I needed [but] didn’t know I needed,” Richards said.

Even though the athletes are conditioning, they are still able to socialize, she said.

“You can still crack jokes and have fun when you’re running and be able to enjoy it,” Richards said.

Richards said conditioning also helps her relax and establishes some resemblance of a routine.

“I can look forward to just going outside my house,” she said.

Richards said she never used to look forward to conditioning, but now it is a welcomed part of her week.

Of course, the Athletics Department also wants to get the athletes in shape for the upcoming season, Smet said.

“On the sports side it’s just making sure that all of our athletes are physically fit and able to go out and compete in a sport that they really love,” Smet said.

On Dec. 1 the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) canceled all Regional and State Championship games for Season 1 Sports. The season was set to begin on Dec. 7.

They said, however, that boys volleyball will be moved to season 2.