While the athletic fields at the local high schools have been full of activity over the last several weeks as athletes from all sports worked on their skills, conditioning and team chemistry throughout June, they were all quiet this week.
That’s because this has been the OSSAA-mandated “dead period,” which ran from Saturday, July 1 through Sunday, July 9, when there can be no OSSAA-sanctioned athletic activities at all at any member schools. Coaches and players cannot use school facilities at all; coaches can’t even contact the players during that time.
“No activities whatsoever,” confirmed Sapulpa football coach Tim Holt. “Coaches can’t be up here, kids can’t be up here, at our school or any school in the state. That’s a good nine straight days to be off, where we can forget about football.”
Holt believes the break is necessary, just to help everyone get away from sports for a brief time.
“It’s so hectic nowadays,” he said. “You got 7-on-7 in the summer, kids are playing baseball, basketball, football. This is just a way, I think, to get everybody away from it, spend time with your family, have a real summer and just forget about it.”
Holt doesn’t even expect his players to work out or keep up their conditioning during the time off – he wants them to completely disengage from athletics for a little bit, believing some time off will benefit them both physically and mentally.
“We tell them to take off, just clear your mind and get away from it for a while,” Holt said. “These kids are grinding so hard nowadays, because there’s really not a whole lot of regulations on how much you can do before certain dates, so we try to get as much out of them as we can – just like basketball coaches are, just like baseball coaches are. Everybody’s trying to get their kids better right now and then all of a sudden, now we can stop and say, ‘Go have fun, go be a kid for 10 days and then we’ll get you when you get back.’”
Kiefer athletic director and football coach Trent Worley also thinks the dead week is a good idea, giving the kids some time away from the stress of having to continuously perform.
“I think the dead period is a great break for kids, families, and coaches,” Worley said. “It takes the pressure away from the expectation of competing with other schools in terms of hours invested and it allows families to have time in the summer without feeling like they are missing out on opportunities.”
Indeed, many of the coaches utilized the time off to go on vacations with their families. It’s pretty much the only time during the summer when they can do so for an extended stretch without missing some kind of practice or workout, so Kellyville athletic director and baseball coach Kevin Nance headed out of town with his family during the time off, as did Holt and Sapulpa volleyball coach Cory Harp, among others.
And the penalties for not adhering to the dead week guidelines are severe, so everyone makes sure they comply.
According to the OSSAA’s website: “Violations of the summertime dead period policy will result in the coach or sponsor being suspended from the first half of the regular season in that athletic activity. School personnel not designated as a coach or sponsor in violation of the summertime dead period policy will result in the head coach being suspended from the first half of the regular season in that activity.”
The time probably went by quickly for everyone involved. The athletes and coaches will be back to work on Monday, with some of the fall sports gearing up to start their seasons not too long afterwards.
