Moratorium week comes at wrong time for football program

The brakes have been thrown on high school athletic programs in full swing during the summer months. The Oregon School Activities Association’s Moratorium Week is in effect, meaning contact between administrators, coaches, directors and students along with the use of high school athletic facilities is prohibited from July 29 to Aug. 4.

The intent is to give everyone a break. The timing of this, though, is not ideal for some teams.

The moratorium hinders the momentum Sandy’s football program has garnered since the start of practice in the spring. The first order of business for new head coach Greg Barton has been to establish a new standard of preparation, meaning a devotion to offseason workouts, evidenced by six-hour-a-day training sessions this summer.

It’s a revolutionary system players are rallying behind.

But that’s come to a halt this week.

The OSAA’s strict rules are to ensure students and coaches take the week off.

Barton says this year’s squad has worked as hard or harder than any group that’s been through Sandy, and he hopes the players who are committed don’t completely lose focus on football during the off-week.

“We have a huge head start, not versus teams in our league necessarily, just in our own history,” Barton says.

He’s “challenged” players to continue training and to “work on what we’ve been working on.”

Coaches will spend the week in the film room and at the drawing board. Newcomers, such as co-offensive coordinator Gunnar Cederberg and defensive coordinator Rob Kool, are getting their first look at Sandy’s season-opening opponent, Hood River Valley. Coaches will also begin designing the playbook.

While practice is on hiatus, the break will benefit athletes playing multiple sports this summer. Students juggling an intense football practice schedule in addition to summer leagues, such as baseball or basketball, have an opportunity to rest for the first time in weeks.

“The positive thing about this is that it’s pointed at the kids who have really been working hard,” Barton says. “The kids ... really dedicated to spring and summer, this week off will really help them get their bodies in order.”

Stories spreading through the grapevine about the intense atmosphere and demanding workouts have made some students, especially incoming freshmen, apprehensive about joining the team. Some students have made only occasional appearances at the optional summer practices, and this week could be an opportunity for those on the bubble to make an ultimate decision.

Does Barton believe he could lose some players by next week?

“It could happen,” he says. “But it could also go the other way. There could be kids on the bubble who decide they want to do it. One of the things we’ve tried to do this summer is let the kids see what this is all about. It’s why we have an open-door policy. We’ll take time for everybody. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

This is the fourth year moratorium week has been in effect. The Oregon Athletic Coaches Association proposed the break, and it was approved by the OSAA in 2009, allowing Oregon to join states such as Washington and California.