Colorado University Athletics
CU's George Voices Optimism As Buffs Prepare For Return Of Student-Athletes
May 28, 2020 | Football, General
BOULDER — Colorado Athletic Director Rick George voiced a strong air of optimism Thursday in a conference call with the media on the potential of the Buffaloes having the opportunity to compete in fall sports.
The Buffs will take a major step in that direction June 15 when student-athletes will be allowed to participate in voluntary, in-person workouts on campus. The return of athletes to college campuses will be one of the most positive developments in college sports since on-campus classes were shuttered and the sports world was virtually shut down in mid-March because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
George cited several reasons for his optimism, beginning with an announcement earlier this week from Chancellor Phil Distefano that outlined how CU plans to welcome students back to campus for the fall semester.
"The chancellor's leadership has been incredible during this time," George said. "It's been invaluable for us. We're excited that we will have an on-campus experience for our students and student-athletes in the fall."
George also noted that the recent NCAA decision to allow student-athletes to return to campuses for voluntary in-person workouts and a Pac-12 decision to allow the same beginning June 15 were positive developments. As conferences around the nation continue to adopt similar resolutions, as well as professional sports taking steps toward competing again, the chances of a collegiate fall sports schedule continue to improve.
"All of those things in my estimation are positive," George said. "But certainly until we know what the scenario is that we're going to be playing under, there will be a lot of discussions internally, locally, nationally to figure out what that looks like this fall. But again, I'm more optimistic today than I was six to eight weeks ago."
The CU Athletic Department has been preparing for the possible return of student-athletes for weeks. CU's administrators and medical team have been formulating a detailed plan that includes a long list of precautionary measures and protocol as well as proactive actions they believe will create a safe and healthy environment for Buffs.
Wednesday, George sent a letter to every CU student-athlete and their parents outlining what Colorado's plan will be to ensure that safe environment.
"We're excited to welcome back those student-athletes who choose to come back to Boulder now," George said.
According to George, more than 130 CU student-athletes are currently in the Boulder area. CU medical personnel have already started the process of administering physical exams to those student-athletes who want to return. Meanwhile, those who return between now and June 15 will serve a quarantine time before entering CU facilities and also undergo physicals.
"We have some extensive re-entry processes in place for our student athletes," George said. "We'll perform physicals on all of our student-athletes when they come back. Then we'll be sequencing others in as they choose to come back to campus. Once we know what they and their families decide, we'll make accommodations."
Other protocols that will be in place will include regular symptom checks and smaller workout groups. CU has three weight rooms that can be utilized — in the Champions Center, in Dal Ward and in the Events Center — which will allow Buffs strength and conditioning coaches to schedule smaller groups throughout the day and still have regular workouts for all.
"Our operations and facilities will look very different than they have in the past," George said. "You won't see the big groups working out at this point … We'll also be having some type of nutrition, whether it's a grab-and-go or part of our Gold Card program. We're finalizing the plans for that."
Of course the Buffs must still adhere to state, local and campus guidelines, but George is confident that CU's plan will meet all requirements.
"I know campus has policies, the state has policies relative to less than 50 percent of the workforce, social distancing, wearing masks if you're walking up and down the halls or having a meeting with somebody," George said. "We're putting all those precautions in place to make sure that when we submit our work plan to campus that we'll be in compliance with whatever guidelines they set forth for us. I certainly feel strongly about what we're doing in our facilities."
George said he wants to make sure CU not only meets requirements, but that parents and student-athletes also feel safe with their return to campus.
"I think we've got great protocols in place and great plans in place for what that will look like when a student-athlete steps back or a staff member steps back into our facility," he said. "We want to make sure that people that walk in our doors feel comfortable with the precautions and processes and protocols that we put into place. It has to do with symptom checking every day. It has to do with sanitizing our facilities in between cohort groups, locker rooms, all those things. We're gearing up for that and we'll be ready. Assuming that everything works well with campus and our local community we'll be ready for our student athletes to come back at that time."
George also noted that student-athletes who choose to return will benefit from more than just the in-person workouts. Buffs will also have access to the Herbst Academic Center as well as to CU trainers by appointment.
"We'll adhere to whatever those guidelines are," George said. "We're ready to go. We're just waiting for the directions and guidance we'll get from our local and state and campus policies and procedures."
CROWD QUESTION: One issue that is still far from being settled is how many fans will be allowed in college stadiums when games are played. It is no doubt a huge budgetary concern not only for Colorado, but for every major college program.
It means the budgeting process for the coming fiscal year is still filled with a multitude of scenarios. CU officials are trying to plan for every possibility.
"There's going to be a reduction of revenue regardless, whether we play 12 games with fans, with a portion of fans or with no fans," George said. "We're looking at all those scenarios. That's why we've been making some decisions to lower our expenses so we can offset some of that, which will be challenging to do based on the scenario that we get."
BARRY REPLACEMENT: With retirement of long-time administrator and former coach Ceal Barry now barely a month away, George must figure out how best to fill her shoes.
Thursday, he said he will likely divvy up Barry's responsibilities to several current staff members instead of hiring one replacement.
"Ceal had a number of different roles and I'll be filling those all internally," he said. "We've got an incredible staff … I think in this case I've identified people that will fit those roles. It won't be one person having all the different roles that she had. She served as a deputy (athletic director) and a senior women's administrator and a sports supervisor for all of our sports. I'm looking at taking those to different people in our department that are really good people I think can fill those roles. I'm hopeful by the middle of next week at the latest we'll be able to announce what that looks like."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
