In the coming weeks local schools will be leaning into their return to sports – like the Phil Campbell Bobcats.

Phil Campbell’s football team began summer workouts June 1 with new health guidelines in place to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. With measures in place such as social distancing, masks and personal and team hygiene, summer activities have been somewhat different.

Phil Campbell’s football team holds two workout sessions a day to help students who work or have other responsibilities. Weight room workouts have been moved outdoors into the parking lot adjacent to the field house. Players do circuit training on the practice field get back in shape physically and mentally.

“We are doing everything in our power to keep our players safe, and we have expressed throughout the entire workouts the importance of making sure we do our part to take care of ourselves, each other and also our families,” Phil Campbell football coach Kevin Barnwell explained. “We divided our players in small groups and had different workout times to accommodate our team and also constantly clean our equipment in order to assure cleanliness.”

A week later, the Bobcat basketball teams returned to the court for the first time in months, with several players on both the boys and girls teams itching to hone their skills.

For the most part, basketball is limited to strength and cardiovascular conditioning, along with individual skill work such as ball handling drills, shooting drills and other activities that can meet the guidelines imposed by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

“Our girls have been waiting for a long time to be able to get back in the gym and get to work,” said girls coach Craig Thomas. “We have a lot of catching up to do. We have missed a lot of work, and we are going to miss a lot of critical competition we usually have in the summer.

“We have to try to make the best of it and stay fresh.”