July 22, 2020 at 12:02 p.m.
Volleyball team makes use of what it has
Volleyball team makes use of what it has
Welcome to the world of sports during the coronavirus pandemic. New Hodag head coach Jim Povolo said he's trying to do the best he can with the hand he's been dealt.
"It's much different than what I've ever experienced and probably what anybody's ever experienced," he said.
Under the district's "Athletics in July" plan, the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium is off limits for open gyms and practices until at least Aug. 3. So, like many other RHS teams, the volleyball squad has moved outside, to a patch of grass next to the JV soccer field in front of the high school.
The team's training began last week, going three days a week, and most of the work was limited to individual exercises.
"We're basically working on conditioning, kind of acclimating everyone back to physical activity, trying to work in as much volleyball specifics as we can within the restrictions that we're placed under," Povolo said. "It's individual ball handling, agility work, those sorts of things."
According to Povolo, attendance has been solid for the sessions as athletes have a choice between working out in the morning or the afternoon. During the first week, there were typically 8-10 athletes in the morning session with slightly better attendance in the afternoon.
"My concern (was) and, (it was) unfounded because we've had decent numbers, I was thinking how many of these kids want to come out here just to condition work and a lot of them do. A lot of them do and I hope that's a harbinger for the future," he said.
With the district moving to Phase 2 of its plan this week, Povolo said the plan was to set up volleyball nets on the grass and to work on more team-centric drills in terms of hitting, passing and setting.
In addition to having to alter its open gym plan, the team had to forgo the summer league in Tomahawk it typically plays in.
"We were kind of hopeful that somehow, someway we would be able to participate in that summer league, but with the restrictions we had here and with the lack of restrictions of that league matching what we're under here, we just couldn't see a way to do that," Povolo said. "It would seem like we were circumventing everything. We didn't feel comfortable about that and the administration ruled on that."
The district's plan calls for full practices and games by Aug. 10, unless circumstances surrounding the local spread of the virus or failure of teams to adhere to safe practice protocols dictates otherwise.
Official volleyball practice for the fall is slated to begin Aug. 17.
Povolo succeeds Brianna Scheuermann who stepped down earlier this year after two seasons at the helm. Povolo, who was a volunteer assistant coach for the program last year, is the Hodags' fifth different head coach in eight seasons.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.