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 five departments that have been some of the most influential to our re-entry process; five departments that have gone well above the call of duty.
I.
Strength Coaches & Nutrition
II.
Medical Trainers (Oct. 20)
III.
Mental Health (Oct. 27)
IV. Facilities (Nov. 5)
V. C.A.T.S. Academics (Nov. 9)
Arizona Athletics proudly occupies numerous world-class facilities that help continue the development of our student-athletes as they aim for national championships.
From Arizona Stadium, to McKale Center, to Hi Corbett Field, these venues have been maintained and modified by the tireless Athletic Facilities crew over the last few months to prepare them for the return of Wildcat student-athletes.
In addition to their normal usage, many of these facilities have been pulling double duty to expand the footprint of other areas and better accommodate for social distancing.
"In the Cole and Jeannie Davis Sports Center we've done lots of stuff to assist the weight room and the training room in getting their equipment set up where it works for them so they can continue their processes," director of athletic facilities
Mike Hairgrove said.
When Arizona Football began to return to campus and prepare for their season in late summer, the facilities crew mobilized to help reorient nearly their entire weight lifting setup into a safer space.
"We assisted football in the summer to get 18 workout stations initially onto the actual football field, and then when they were permitted to resume more practice-type activities we helped move those setups onto the east concourse of Arizona Stadium," Hairgrove said.
Like many other departments, the athletic facilities crew saw an opportunity granted to them by the loss of sporting events to tackle pressing projects that had slipped to the bottom of to-do lists.
"
We don't have very much storage spaces, and the ones we do have tend to fill up very quick," he said. "We were able to go through some of those areas and find stuff that could go. We normally do that in the summer, but being able to focus on it with more detail as opposed to rushing through it knowing we had something else coming up was very helpful."
Perhaps most the most impressive aspect of these feats is that, due to the projected budget shortfall facing Arizona Athletics and other departments across the country, Hairgrove and his crew have kept these buildings functional even with a reduced staff.
"Everything has been done by the four full-time guys in our area," he said. "It's been eight hands versus typically when we would have six to eight people helping us out."
Those four full-time staffers are Hairgrove,
Tom Moore, Jacob Gahart, and David Oropeza.
"They've all stepped up," Hairgrove said. "It's been just the four of us here since March. All four of us have gone above and beyond, and those three have gone way above and beyond in being willing to change, willing to modify their procedures, and adapt and get things done. They haven't done a single thing that you wouldn't be proud of."
Throughout the current challenges and into whatever comes next, the facilities crew has been an anchor for Wildcat coaches and support personnel, and Hairgrove is effusively proud of the way they have approached their roles.
"They're always ready to go and come to work with a positive attitude despite the uncertainty of not knowing what the next job holds or what the next task is," he said. "No matter what, they've worked with the coaches and staff members to get things done and prepare their teams for training."
