A lot of uncertainty is still surrounding the fall sports season due to the ongoing pandemic, but Brown County High School Athletic Director Mark Bruner and coaches have been developing a plan to safely begin practicing.

According to the Indiana Department of Education’s guidelines, the transition into fall sports will be divided into three phases.

Student-athletes may start conditioning and training on July 6, but will be limited to only 15 hours on campus per week, and each activity day may only last three hours.

During phase one, each coach will be given a forehead thermometer that will be used to screen all athletes and coaches before entering a practice facility. Coaches will also have a packet of screening questions used to ask students about possible symptoms of the virus.

BCHS girls soccer coach Alissa Newlin said that she is a little concerned about the plan because she is pregnant, but she and the boys soccer coach will be taking extra precautions.

“We’re handling this as best as we possibly can,” she said. “Both soccer teams have decided to limit the amount of people in the bathroom during or after practice to four at a time, and we will be having athletes put their bags at a safe distance from others.”

During the first phase, no locker rooms will be open for athletes on campus, shared water stations will be closed, and masks are highly recommended.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association has also asked coaches to have no physical contact happening during their practices, which concerns Newlin.

“It will be difficult for us to practice any defense, which we wanted to focus on this season, because of how physical it can be,” she said. “Instead, we are going to work on spatial awareness and passing to be cautious. If we can’t work on defense, we’re going to improve in every other aspect.”

Phase one ends on July 19, according to the Department of Education, and contact will start to be allowed on July 20. In phase two, locker rooms can be used at 50 percent capacity, but formal competition is not allowed except for girls golf.

Varsity golf Coach Brad Baughman said that of all the fall sports, golf is one of the few that could be successfully pulled off.

“It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out,” he said. “It’s going to take awhile to get used to the mechanics and procedures surrounding all of this.”

During the first two phases, multisport athletes will have the same limitations as everyone else. Boys and girls cross-country coach Rob Abraham said this will require coaches to split time with certain athletes and have students manage their limited practice time.

“It will be difficult for some students that practice with multiple teams at first, what with there only being 15 hours in a week,” he said. “Some of my athletes also play football, so those students will have to split time between cross-country conditioning and practices on the field.”

During the first two phases, Newlin said that she will be implementing a two-warning system during practices. If an athlete does not follow all the precautions mentioned, they will first receive a warning. If they continue to break guidelines, they will be suspended from one practice.

“It will be a learning curve for everybody,” Newlin said. “We all are going to have to learn to be patient.”

The final phase of this transition to athletics will go into effect on Aug. 15. At that time, locker rooms will still be limited to 50 percent capacity, but teams may begin competition. Concessions also may be sold if all personnel are wearing personal protective equipment. However, Abraham said that many coaches are still unsure exactly what competition will look like.

“I now know when we can start competing again, but I don’t know what those competitions will be,” he said. “Whether it will be us just competing regularly against one or two other teams, or us going to invitationals and running against 30 plus teams, I still don’t know.”

Newlin believes fans will be allowed to attend matches starting Aug. 15, but doesn’t know exactly what that will look like either.

“Fans will be allowed, but this situation is constantly evolving,” she said. “We will be screening all of our athletes and coaches, but I don’t know about fans or opposing teams.”

More uncertainty lies in the logistical aspects of athletics. Baughman said coaches have received little to no information about how to handle certain facets of high school athletics, such as away games or feeding a team after a competition.

“We haven’t event talked yet about transportation,” he said. “I don’t know what buses will look like or if we will be able to stop at Wendy’s anymore. Everyone involved is just going to have to be patient and wait for further instruction.”

Through all of the confusion and developments, Newlin said that the response from fall sports coaches and the BCHS athletic department has been good.

“All coaches and staff are putting an emphasis on communication and transparency,” she said. “This isn’t about just each person’s individual sport, but also the entire athletic community.”