March 11, 2021 at 8:37 a.m.
Back in the swing
Spring sports teams getting head start with contact days
Back in the swing
The Hodag Dome has already been bustling with activity as a few spring sports teams hold contact days to gear up for the season. So far, three of the six WIAA-sanctioned RHS spring sports have been in the dome gearing up. The rest will hop in the dome within the next few weeks.
Spring sports teams have the opportunity to utilize up to 15 coaching contact days which can be held between now and one week prior to start of the official season - April 19 for track and field, baseball, softball and golf; April 26 for girls' soccer and May 3 for boys' tennis.
The allowance is two-fold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did it cancel the spring sports season for athletes across the state last year, it has left a gaping hole in the sports calendar for a number of schools, including Rhinelander, this year.
In a typical year, the majority of spring sports teams would be practicing, or getting ready to practice for the upcoming year. But the end of the winter season was pushed up two weeks, and the start of the spring season pushed back until late April this year as the WIAA carved out a space for an alternate fall season for schools that opted not participate in traditional fall sports due to the pandemic.
For schools like Rhinelander that participated in the traditional fall season, athletes would have been facing a two-month gap between organized sports seasons without the contact days.
"We have a lull right now," RHS activities director Brian Paulson said. "If coaches can't work with their kids, what are they going to be doing? How prepared are they, injury prevention. You look at baseball, softball, training for soccer. You could go on down the list. It's important to keep these kids active."
How the 15 contact days are utilized are up to each individual coach and team. Some, like tennis, are going five days a week for three straight weeks right up until the dark period. Others, like girls' soccer, are spreading out their contact days. Coach Richard Kotula has contact days Mondays and Wednesdays for seven weeks, running through April 14.
"We're just not putting so much pressure, physically and mentally, on those girls for a two-week straight window. We're spreading it out so it's an easier adjustment for them," he said. "We want to help them ease into the game, where it's comfortable for them. We as coaches are helping them to get back to rhythm of this game and help them gain the confidence that they need to be strong."
So far, girls' soccer, golf and softball have started their contact days. Baseball and track are slated to begin this coming Monday and boys' tennis will begin contact days after students return from spring break April 5.
All six spring sports teams are utilizing the Hodag Dome for contact days, and the 128,000-sqaure foot facility is almost universally being described as a game-changer.
"If we didn't have the dome, those 15 days, just like all spring sports, they're long," RHS golf coach Adam Schmidt said. "You're in the gym trying to be creative to find things to do, trying to keep kids interested. Now, with the dome, it brings a whole new level."
Not only is Schmidt's team utilizing the two golf simulators inside the dome for full swings, there are other stations where the team members and work on their short games.
"Having the simulators, that's a huge benefit to get some feedback on where your club goes, where the ball goes and just hitting the ball," he said. "Then, being able to do some chipping inside here is pretty awesome. We're able to work on our targets while chipping, finding the distance, the spot we're trying to hit at, is just huge for the first day."
Meanwhile, with a full indoor soccer field at its disposal, Kotula's squad has plenty of room to spread out and get touches on the ball on a surface identical to what it will play on at Mike Webster Stadium and other locations within the GNC this year. Goalkeepers also have the chance to utilize the JUGS machine to simulate facing shots in a real-game scenario. Kotula called the space, "a huge blessing."
"It's something that, in a way, is giving us an advantage," he said. "It's nice to see that girls are showing up to those practices. They're taking it seriously. We have this place here that we could literally do what we would have normally done during summer time when it's nice outside. The full field definitely helps."
RHS softball coach D.J. DeMeyer echoed those sentiments. With batting cages and space for two regulation softball fields inside the dome, practice has become a lot easier.
"We can have people hit fly balls, take grounders, stuff that we could never do in the last 5-6 years that I've been coaching in the winter," he said. "You can hit fly balls as high as you want in here and it's hard to hit the ceiling.
"We're going to be better at the outfield. We're going to be better with just routine stuff. The plays that were never routine for us will turn into routine plays."
The dome will really become a busy place next week, as baseball and track begin their contact days, but the teams have devised a schedule that gets most in and out at a decent hour. On only four occasions is a team schedule to practice any later than 7:30.
"We're still trying to use all the contact days while, at the same time, keeping some Sunday evenings and Wednesdays open to the community," Paulson said. "I feel that's important that we work our schedule around that and at the same time fulfill our days, try to get all 15 contact days in where instruction can be given by our head coaches."
Ultimately, the goal for each team is to make sure they have a jump start on the season. That's key because all six teams have a scrimmage or game within eight days of their first practice. For baseball, softball, golf and tennis, that first action against another school comes on the same week that practice begins.
"The plan is that by the end of the contact days, even before the first practice starts, that we will be a ready team for the season," Kotula said. "The girls will be ready mentally, physically for the game. The knowledge of the game will be there so we can start competition strong."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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