Glynn County high schools adapt to challenges of coronavirus in sports

Brunswick High School football athletes work out in the weight room this summer. (Glynn County Schools)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Steve Waters knew that there would be positive tests for coronavirus when high school athletes returned to workouts in Glynn County last month. That was a given.

It was just how about how many athletes would test positive during voluntary workouts for Waters, the district athletic director for Glynn County Schools.

So far, there have been a handful of athletes across multiple sports to test positive for COVID-19.

The positive tests among high school athletes in Glynn County are a reflection of increased activity in the community as a whole there.

On May 27, Glynn County crossed the 100 positive test threshold. On Monday, the county had 1,118 positive tests. Deaths had doubled in that span, although remained relatively low (from three to six). Glynn County has seen a handful of its high school athletes at Glynn Academy and Brunswick High test positive for COVID-19 and the schools there have responded accordingly.

“Really in our community it’s more kids that are working in the restaurants ... I don’t really think we’re spreading it on the athletic fields as much as they’re catching it from their jobs or in the community working,” Waters said. “We’ve probably actually had more [positive tests] from non-contact sports than contact. And we haven’t allowed wrestling to come back yet. And football really hasn’t made contact yet, we’re still, you know, socially distancing them, either in the weight room or in conditioning, so it will be interesting once we start contact, which we’ll we’ll have to wait on the state for approval to get that going.”

With a lengthy list of safety precautions in place, the Georgia High School Association allowed schools to begin voluntary workouts on June 8. At Glynn County’s two high schools, there have been a handful of positive tests among athletes who have returned to campus and worked out.

Glynn Academy announced that it was stopping football workouts due to a player testing positive for COVID-19 on June 21. The Red Terrors picked workouts back up Monday. That was also the day that Brunswick High put a halt on its football workouts due to COVID-19.

“We’ve kind of gone above board and being cautious because, you know, you hate to suspend all activities. But we’ve had in the past couple weeks, even today, if we have more than one kid that has tested positive, we just shut down all activities until we can make sure it’s not out of control type spread situation,” Waters said.

Instead of locking things down indefinitely, Waters said the district’s plan of attack has evolved.

It wants to limit the program affected (say it’s baseball or softball workouts), clean and sanitize the areas substantially and then resume workouts with the unaffected athletes in a shorter period of time. That way the entire program doesn’t have to be shut down if it can be avoided, and workouts continue for the bulk of athletes on that team.

It’s a delicate balancing act of trying to acclimate athletes for fall sports while making concessions to stem new coronavirus infections. Waters said that he’s grateful for a strong sports medicine program, physicians and certified athletic trainers in Glynn County and coaches who continue to adapt on a daily basis.

“We’re kind of changing that from shutting down programs to kind of just quarantining the kids and letting our programs resume play because we are four weeks away from football season now so it’s kind of a juggle,” Waters said. “We’ve got to get kids acclimated to the 95-degree heat in South Georgia, but we also have to keep them safe from COVID. So, there’s a lot of sports medicine topics that are at play here. You just kind of have to juggle, do what’s best for your kids and your coaches.”

Football athletes haven’t been the only ones who have tested positive in Glynn County, Waters said. Athletes across other sports like baseball and softball have tested positive, too. And that’s without any sports-related contact yet. The GHSA hasn’t allowed any contact practices, although it will allow inter-squad scrimmages like 3-on-3 or 7-on-7.


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.