Scotland athletics get green light to begin workouts

LAURINBURG — The Scotland County school board has given the green light for athletics to begin on-campus workouts for fall sports effective Sept. 1, according to Scotland High School athletic director David Johnson.

Some Scotland coaches have begun workouts with their athletes this week, while others are holding off till next week and the weeks beyond depending on their amended schedule that was announced by the NCHSAA earlier this month.

“I have been very pleased with the coaches and athletes abiding by all of the safety measures we have established to ensure safety for all that are involved in this process,” Johnson said.

Head coach Richard Bailey said football workouts started Wednesday, but that they spent most of the time getting paperwork taken care of and doing initial screening of the athletes.

“The weather was so hot, it was hard for us to get much done,” Bailey said. “We are really hoping to just get the guys back in shape little-by-little and we will start incorporating football drills and skills as we move along and get less restrictions from the state. We had a decent turnout of kids and I’m sure that will grow as word gets out and families get more comfortable with the safety measures being used.”

Bailey said they are working out in small groups with each group working out twice per week. Each of the five groups consists of about 20 players, following the social distancing limitations set forth by the NCHSAA for outside gatherings.

They have groups that will workout Monday and Wednesday and then other groups that come Tuesday and Thursday. Each group is broken down by positions with some of the more experienced players, according to Bailey, and the younger players are broken into groups depending on when they signed up

In order to keep the workout groups from intermingling, Bailey said they bring them in at separate times.

Bailey said they will be following the Phase 2 guidelines put in place by the NCHSAA, including temperature checks, masks when not working out, social distancing, hand washing, sanitizing equipment between groups and everyone having their own water.

Boys soccer workouts to begin next week

Boys soccer is planning to start workouts next week, according to head coach Blake Dickerson.

Dickerson said he’s planning to hold workouts two days per week and then will go to five days per week once they get closer to the start of the season.

“We haven’t been doing much so far because we were waiting,” Dickerson said. “I know these boys are excited to be back out there, I know I am too. We’ve waited a long time to begin playing again.”

Per its amended calendar announced by the NCHSAA, boys soccer’s first practice date is Jan. 11, with the first matches set to start two weeks later on Jan. 25. The season will run until March 12, consisting of 14 total matches with a limit of two per week.

The Laurinburg Exchange reached out to all the other fall sports head coaches for comment, but had not heard back by press time.