T-L Photo/SETH STASKEY ST. CLAIRSVILLE head coach Ryan Clifford checks the temperature of freshman Jimmy Muhly prior to a basketball open gym on Wednesday.

FAIRPOINT — It’s been a long time coming for athletes and coaches.

The chance to play, be coached and, quite simply, see their buddies and teammates are things that have been missing from the lives of prep athletes over the course of almost the last three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many area athletes and coaches have started to get back into somewhat of a groove or state of normalcy in the last couple of weeks as restrictions have eased and the OHSAA lifted its no-contact policy for prep sports.

“The kids are just glad to be around each other,” St. Clairsville head basketball coach Ryan Clifford, who led his team through its first off-season workouts this week at a private facility because the gym at the high school is still set up for commencement. “We had a few varsity kids who have been under strict quarantines from their parents, so this is their first time out and when we’re done (with the workout), they don’t want to leave.”

The majority of schools are following the OHSAA’s recommended, three-phase plan to amp up their athletes’ training, conditioning and skill training for the summer months.

The restrictions, which were set by Gov. Mike DeWine, were eased as of Tuesday, May 26. But, most schools didn’t begin their summer programs until earlier this week after they formulated their official plans and met with their respective head coaches to make sure everyone was on the same page.

“We started (this past) Tuesday with our junior high kids and I woke up like it was Christmas morning,” Clifford revealed. “I couldn’t wait to get to the gym, get the ball out, set up for the workout. It was like some semblance of normalcy.”

St. Clairsville, which was the last area high school to play a real sporting event, was eliminated from the boys basketball tournament on March 4 at Cambridge High School.

“My wheels have been spinning (on what the offseason and season) would look like since things got shut down in March,” Clifford said. “There’s been no way to really prepare for it because you didn’t know what or when you’d be allowed to do something. So, you’d come up with a contingency plan and often times just throw it out the window and start from scratch.”

Normally, the month of June is extremely busy for the Red Devils basketball team. It begins the month with its annual basketball camp and along with open gyms and workouts, the team takes part in upwards of 40 games via summer league, shootouts and team camps.

“This (month) will be a lot different than our typical June,” Clifford said.

Since basketball was deemed a higher contact sport by DeWine and his return to play committee, teams are not allowed to compete, so another adjustment was needed.

With no games to be played for the foreseeable future, coaches are working more on skill work. Shooting, ball handling and, according to Clifford, “even some defense.”

“I look at this as a positive because everyone is in the same boat,” Clifford said. “Kids are getting a lot of shots up and that will hopefully pay off when we’re able to play games.”

Some of the guidelines in Phase One include the taking of temperatures as athletes enter the facility. Those are charted and a player is sent away if he or she registers 100.4 or higher. Once the athlete clears the temperature check, he or she gets a basketball, which becomes the ball he or she uses throughout the workout.

Basketball players, for instance, are not permitted to pass the ball the to each other. One player is not allowed to rebound for another player.

“We’ve designed our workouts to do a lot of stuff off the dribble,” Clifford said. “We’re sticking to the strict guidelines. They’re what came from the state and the school, and we’re going to stick to them.”

The group size is also limited, so Clifford has broken his players into three groups — returning varsity players, jayvee players and freshmen.

“The smaller groups allow each kid to get more work in and a little more individual attention than he might have gotten in one large group,” Clifford said. “It’s really an advantage for the younger kids.”

With all sports opened up for training, but only low contact sports like baseball, softball, running, golf and swimming allowed to compete, it’s led to some busy days for the athletes. Also adding to that is the OHSAA has relaxed its rule on 10 days of coaching contact and also its traditional rule that August becomes a dead period for all non fall sports.

There have been no issues, thus far, for St. Clairsville. And Clifford doesn’t foresee any.

“Tom (Sliva), Brett (McLean) and I work hand in and hand,” Clifford said. “There is no fighting over kids. If you want to be a three-sport athlete at St. Clairsville, there’s time to do it.”

Basketball is working out on Wednesday and Friday, while football is conditioning on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Sliva is coaching the Red Devils Colt baseball team, which has a full schedule and plays in the evenings.

“The kids are busy, but that’s a good thing,” Clifford said. “This summer will be different and we’ll do some things in July, but come Aug. 1, our football guys will be gone. I won’t see them until their season ends. The guys who aren’t playing a fall sport, we’ll work out because we’re allowed.”