The start of the new academic school year brings the return of UTRGV student-athletes to campus.
Despite the WAC deciding to suspend the Fall 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns.
Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President and UTRGV Women’s Golf redshirt senior Rachel Yu, still wants to attend practice and hit the weight room even if it means additional return to campus policies.
Yu added that other UTRGV student-athletes share the same sentiments.
“If you really want to play you are going to do what it takes to play and even if that is kinda uncertain of whether or not NCAA will allow a winter or spring [sports],” Yu said. “We all just really want to play.”
Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said UTRGV Athletics in conjunction with the School of Medicine and UT Health RGV are planning to give student-athletes the safest possible return to campus.
A return that would include bi-weekly tests, daily temperature checks and frequent sanitization of high traffic areas such as the Victory Center, training rooms, weight rooms and athletic facilities.
“Our goal is to test, to clear, to have physicals, to visually clear student-athletes and then be able to practice, train, give our young people access to the facilities whether it be the weight room, the training room, Victory Center, the venues that they call home as a student-athlete,” Conque said.
Although UTRGV Athletics is taking an increase of COVID-19 precautions, Conque stated, the key to prevention will be continual education about the highly contagious virus to student-athletes, coaches and staff.
“Once you explain that to all of us, it helps us understand, ‘OK, I get it and I get what I have to do and the responsibility I have to help keep our department safe,'” he said.
Although Conque said tracking every student-athletes’ movement would be impossible, there is an expectation that protocol will be followed.
Conque added that student-athletes, coaches and staff who don’t follow protocol will face consequences from UTRGV Athletics, such as losing access to training facilities.
For more updates and highlights, visit GOUTRGV.com
Follow us on Twitter @VaqueroRadio to stay up to date.
FOR VAQUERO RADIO, I’M LUIS RUBIO.
