Teachers, coaches get creative to keep kids moving

“I think the biggest thing for me is trying to give the kids a little bit of perspective,” said Steven Kryger, Menlo-Atherton boys’ lacrosse head coach, co-athletic director and math teacher. “There are a lot of people who are dealing with issues way more serious than us not coming to school or playing lacrosse.”

While many believe a high school coach is just that, many coaches and athletic directors are also teachers and look at athletics as a part of all-around, well-balanced high school curriculum. So they are also trying to do what’s best for not only the health of their players, but also for the student body at large.

Mike Parodi Jr. is the head football coach and a physical education teacher at Hillsdale. He said he spent most of Monday morning in a conference call with his school’s physical education department, as a whole, to discuss how they will address online physical education — just like math and science departments will do for their students.

“The big one we talked about (with the kids) was the environmental stuff. (About) being responsible and not doing dumb stuff,” Parodi said.

As for practical applications, Parodi said he went online and found an infographic that described the different muscle groups in the body and then exercises to work out those groups.

“You don’t need to go to the gym to work out,” Parodi said. “Just giving them body weight activities. (Telling them) how you can work out without a barbell, without a dumbbell.”

He said a general outline being considered is to have students work seven muscles group per day, perform the exercises for each group and then fill out a form and emailing it back to their PE teacher at the end of the week.

“It’s just reminding them there are still things you can do that are still helpful for your body,” Parodi said.

Unlike Parodi, whose football team is out of season until August, Kryger and the rest of spring sports were just starting to enter league play when the stoppages occurred. So Kryger has tried to impress on his players the importance of doing some kind of lacrosse training in the event the season resumes — drills and activities that can be done in the backyard or garage.

But he is also giving them practical advise.

“Don’t sleep in. Keep your routine, (one) where you’re working out and eating well,” Kryger said.

Aragon’s Steve Sell is in a similar position as both a football coach, PE teacher and an athletic director. But he said his administrative duties have fallen off dramatically since word came out Thursday night schools were shuttering.

“I wouldn’t say ‘easier’ is the right term,” said Sell, who was driving to Southern California to empty his son’s living quarters as the rest of his college spring semester will be conducted online. “I would use the term, downright heartbreaking. … It’s really sad. You just feel horrible for so many people.”

Sell spent Friday not only working with his coaches, but also spent time with the track and field team.

“Friday, I had to help get the yearbook pictures taken for track and girls’ lacrosse or those kids aren’t getting in the yearbook,” Sell said. “It seems inconsequential, but when you look at those things 20 years from now, it’s going to be important.”

But it’s when Sell finished with the photo shoot that the enormity of it all hit him. He said as he headed back to his office in the Aragon gym, he stopped by both the baseball field and tennis courts to talk with the coaches and players.

“Everyone was just — gone,” Sell said. “It was emotional. It just hit me.

“Usually when the season ends, it ends in a whimper, not a bang,” Sell continued. “Uniforms trickle in. There is a process to how the season ends and this just came to an abrupt halt. Now hopefully, by good fortune — almost a miracle — the (spring) season goes on to some extent.”

Sell said he didn’t know how eligibility might be effected if and when school and high school athletics do return, but Sell is confident the powers-that-be will do the right thing.

“I talked to my principal about [eligibility] a little bit. That’s going to be a district decision,” Sells said. “I think our district is very, very heavily focused on empathy and equity. This is a stressful time. The last thing they want is for kids to be freaked out about their grades. I highly doubt kids will be put into a worse situation (than when the shutdown started).”

There is, however, a very real chance there will not be a spring season to which to return. The San Mateo County school board has shut down all schools and school-related activities until April 13 at the earliest, at which time, everyone will re-evaluate. In the meantime, the state’s governing body for high school sports, the CIF, and the commissioners of the 10 sections in the state, will discuss the future of the spring sports season during a meeting today.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Kryger said late Monday morning. “We have to plan we come back from spring break, make sure we’ve flattened the curve and spring sports will be ready to go.

“I’m optimistic because I want to be. I want the country and everybody to be safe enough to resume (a more normal routine).”