In mid-March, operations around McKale Center came to a halt. Seasons were canceled, classes were moved from in-person to online and student-athletes were encouraged to leave campus and return to their hometowns in the face of a global pandemic.
 
In the next six months, every Arizona Athletics employee answered the call-to-action, navigating uncertain times to do whatever necessary to serve the student-athletes and prepare for a safe and healthy return to campus and, eventually, competition.
 
There was the immediate challenge of continuing to support student-athletes, keeping them healthy and doing everything possible to continue to provide the support they would be receiving if they were still on campus.   
 
Simultaneously, an incredibly detailed re-entry plan had to be built. The challenge: returning 500 student-athletes to campus and re-integrating them into training and practice regimens while taking every precaution possible to make sure every student-athlete and coach was as safe as possible.
 
The re-entry planning process was thorough, organized into three phases, with specific operational domains coordinated with each phase. The plan was built, and the re-entry process was initialized.
 
Many areas in the athletic department have gone well above and beyond their normal job duties in the last six months. Many individuals and departments have overcome unprecedented levels of adversity and moved forward admirably in uncertain times. In this Powering the Return series, we will highlight the work of four departments that have been some of the most influential to our re-entry process; four departments that have gone well above the call of duty.
 
I. Strength Coaches & Nutrition (Oct. 13)
II. Medical Trainers (Oct. 20)
III. Mental Health (Oct. 27)
IV. Facilities (Nov. 2)
V. C.A.T.S. Academics (Nov. 9)


 

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Arizona Athletics is home to some of the most elite training facilities in the country. The Bill Estes Jr. Family Strength and Conditioning Center, which houses 16 of UA's 19 teams, is the largest Olympic sport weight room in the country. The Arizona football team trains in the state-of-the-art Lowell-Stevens Football Facility weight room, while the Cole and Jeannie Davis Strength and Conditioning Center in Richard Jefferson Gymnasium houses both Arizona men's basketball and Arizona beach volleyball teams. Completed in 2019, the brand-new Davis Sports Center is an indoor facility for every team to use, adding to Arizona's already great training infrastructure.
 
This infrastructure, combined with Arizona's incredible strength and conditioning staff, makes Arizona a top training destination in the country.
 
But when COVID-19 closed all of those facilities and many other gyms around the country, student-athletes went from having every training tool at their fingertips, to being forced to use whatever they had lying around the house. While the whole world seemed to stop, it was incredibly important that training did not.
 
"We had to find a way to continue to train the athletes," said Jim Krumpos, Associate Athletic Director and head of the C.A.T.S. Strength and Conditioning program. "It was a real challenge to create individualized workout programs for every athlete based on what they had access to."
 
Some student-athletes returned home where they had access to full gym equipment, but most were forced to workout from home with little to no equipment.
 
"We had to gauge where they were at physically, where they were at mentally, and then what they had access to," said Krumpos. "We had international kids that were literally locked down in their apartment. It took a lot of hard work from our staff. We spent so many hours on phone calls or in Zoom meetings. The initial challenges were monumental, and the strength staff really worked incredibly, incredibly hard."
 
In addition to the help provided to the student-athletes, the strength and conditioning staff served as a resource for every Arizona Athletics staff member. Krumpos and his staff provided personalized workouts to staff members who faced similar situations as student-athletes and also provided virtual reoccurring home workout programs held during their free time to assist staff members.
 
"We were more than happy to do all of these things," said Krumpos. "We wanted to be a resource to as many people as possible. Our staff was definitely working more hours than we would be normally working."
 
The creation of individual workouts continued throughout the spring and into the summer as student-athletes' individual circumstances continued to change. But as that workload for the strength and conditioning continued, a new, greater challenge had arrived.
 
How do we get 500 student-athletes back in our facilities and allow them to train at the highest levels in the safest way possible?
 
"At the end of spring, we really started to talk about re-entry and what that was going to look like," said Krumpos. "And I have to be honest with you, it seemed like a very daunting task."
 
In unprecedented circumstances, the strength and conditioning staff started working through what an adaptation of a workout program would look like with health and safety as the top priority, while using federal, state, county health department and University of Arizona guidelines and aligning with the best practices of the Pac-12 and the NCAA.
 
"The biggest thing immediately was understanding capacity," said Rob Harris, Director of Olympic Sports Performance Enhancement. "We had to figure out what capacity we would have in our different facilities and different areas while following local and state guidelines. And from there we had to adjust everything we did based on those capacity numbers."
 
Arizona's phased re-entry process began with 20 football players on June 15 and gradually increased from there.
 
Every detail was figured out before the student-athletes returned to campus. From which door they would use to enter and which they would use to exit a building. Where they would wash their hands. How the equipment would be cleaned.
 
As student-athletes returned to campus, the months of planning and preparation went into motion. The most important things in every workout and in every gathering were sanitation, social distancing and safety.
 
"I would say that there are three main adjustments we've had to make," said Krumpos. "The first is getting used to wearing a mask. All student-athletes and strength coaches have to wear a mask at all times during training. The second would be keeping our distance. We keep 15 feet of distance in everything we do. And finally, they weren't allowed to share equipment and had their own individual stations."
 
Now, the phased re-entry is complete and every team has returned to a full training regimen. The safety protocols remain in place and make for a much different look around the training facilities.
 
Another large part of the physical fitness equation for the student-athletes is the nutrition component. Arizona's director of nutrition, Phil Lewis, faced similar challenges to the strength and conditioning staff during the spring into the summer and transitioning back into re-entry.
 
"Our biggest challenge was finding alternative ways to provide fuel to student-athletes after Bear Down Kitchen was closed in the spring," said Lewis. "We put together weekly emails to the student-athletes mapping out a plan, but not everyone had the same access to food depending on where they lived and what was open. So the biggest thing was connecting with our student-athletes and helping them overcome those obstacles."
 
With the student-athletes back on campus, Lewis and his staff have had to find new and creative ways to provide fuel.
 
"We had to switch to almost an entirely grab-and-go model with breakfast and snack options," said Lewis. "We provided the meals in open-air, spaced out environments. And now we're transitioning back to Bear Down Kitchen, but with entirely different standards. So it's all about continuing to provide fueling options in a safe manner."
 
Krumpos and his staff have been an integral piece in Arizona's re-entry plan. And while many have remained working remotely, the strength and conditioning staff goes into work every day. Even with all the countless safety protocols that are in place, they do so while accepting a certain level of risk to provide the student-athletes with the best possible training. In addition to keeping themselves and the athletes safe at work, they also have had to adjust their life outside of work to eliminate their risk outside of work.