ROCKINGHAM — With the first week of virtual school in the books for Richmond Senior High School students, several athletic programs will resume voluntary fall workouts on Monday.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Administration issued a mandatory dead period between August 17 and August 23 as most school districts across the state began instruction.
Out of the dead period, the Richmond football, volleyball and boys’ and girls’ cross country teams will resume workouts in the coming weeks.
According to the new 2020-2021 athletic calendar released by the NCHSAA earlier this month, volleyball and cross country will be the first two sports to return to official play. As of right now, their respective seasons can begin on Nov. 4.
Regular fall sports like boys’ soccer, girls’ tennis and girls’ golf have all been pushed to the spring schedule.
Head coaches Chris Larsen (boys’ soccer), Neely Herndon (girls’ tennis) and Keith Parsons (girls’ golf) have all confirmed that their teams’ workouts have been moved to a later start date closer to the actual start of their prospective seasons.
RAIDER FOOTBALL TO RESUME MONDAY
Friday was set to be the Raiders’ season opener on the road at Clayton High School, but instead fourth-year head coach Bryan Till and his team will have to wait for their season to get underway in February.
But that’s not stopping the team from getting an early jump, as team members will continue voluntary workouts on Monday.
Till tweeted out the team’s updated workout schedule on Thursday, which will see the team broken into several different groups and follow a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday schedule.
Workouts are allowed to be 90 minutes long and require players and coaches to meet in groups of no more than 25 people, among other restrictions.
Starting at 3:45 p.m., varsity offensive players will meet at the Richmond practice field, while varsity defensive players will meet at the same time on the game field.
A second session of varsity workouts will be held at the practice field on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, and will include special teams players and other rising upperclassmen. Those workouts will begin at 4:45 p.m.
Two different groups of junior varsity players will meet at 3:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m., respectively, at Richmond County Ninth Grade Academy the same days. Another group of players will also work out at Washington Street Elementary, beginning at 3:45 p.m.
For a full list of names and locations, click here.
CROSS COUNTRY CONTINUING WORKOUTS
The Richmond boys’ and girls’ cross country teams started workouts prior to the dead period, and will pick things back up this week.
Second-year head coach Jessica Covington said her teams will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays at Hinson Lake in Rockingham. Workout sessions will begin at 3:15 p.m. and the teams will run twice a week until the end of the month.
Covington added that once September rolls around, her runners will switch to three days of workouts per week.
VOLLEYBALL SET TO RESUME SEPT. 1
The Lady Raider volleyball team will begin its third season under head coach Ashleigh Larsen when it hits the court in early November. For now, however, the team will continue its outdoor voluntary workouts on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Larsen said her players will continue to meet in the same small groups as before the dead period, and the team will work out on one of the football practice fields. That, she said, allows for a maximum of 22 players and three coaches to work out, as opposed to seven players and three coaches indoors.
Volleyball workouts will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the first group meeting from 3:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. A second group will follow that from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will continue to update readers and fans of any new workout and scheduling developments.
