SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The Syracuse City School District restarted many athletic activities on Monday, including high-risk sports like football. The district adds football, cheer, soccer, swimming, volleyball, tennis and cross country to its slate of spring sports, with winter sports like basketball and hockey coming to a close this week.
April Wertheim is the interim administrator for athletics at the district. She said getting student-athletes back on the field is a joint effort between the nursing staff, coaches and the students themselves, and that everyone has been playing their part.
“When it comes to doing things for the kids, everybody just jumped right in,” Wertheim said. “The kids were great.”
Student-athletes are subject to the requisite COVID-19 precautions: mask-wearing, social distancing when possible and daily wellness forms to fill out in order to ensure player safety.
Wertheim said she attended the first football practice of the year at the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler. She said the experience was rewarding, especially since the school opened its new football facility yesterday after not having a home field for 10 years.
“Just to see them out there,” Wertheim said. “It was awesome. And I’m sure it was like that at every one of our schools. Just for the kids to see each other. Some of them haven’t even seen some of their friends in a long time.”
The coordination between the administration and the schools is worth it because it is all for the benefit of the kids, Wertheim said.
