Georgia football players will return to Athens in early-June after the SEC approved voluntary workouts beginning June 8.
“We’re going to bring them back prior to June 8 so they can get a medical workup,” Smart said on Thursday on a Zoom call with UGA media members.
That’s the protocol director of sports medicine Ron Courson put in place for Georgia’s student-athletes who are returning after the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They’ve got to have an extensive physical, they’ve got to have COVID tests,” said Smart.
Smart said that some players may even be tested prior to their returning to campus.
If a Georgia player does happen to test positive for coronavirus, Smart said they’ll have the option to return home or quarantine in Athens.
“Each guy will have the option of if they want to go back home if they test positive, or we have a quarantine policy that we’re able to put guys into should they test positive. We’ve also got the ability if it happens during a workout period that we’ll have contact tracing. Guys that have worked out together, those groups will stay the same, and we’ll be aware of those guys.”
Smart said that Georgia will educate its players on the coronavirus and how to stay safe upon their return.
“I promise you there’s some of our players don’t feel vulnerable, they feel like they’re not vulnerable because of what they have heard, or because they think they have super powers,” Smart said. “So we’re going to educate our guys to be safe and make good decisions and we’re going to have education sessions even when they get back to give us the best opportunity to have a season.”
Coaches are not permitted to oversee these voluntary workouts that are set to begin on June 8.
“It’s not going to be the normal, where I walk in, and I go to my locker, and I can workout, and then I shower — it’s going to be completely different.”
“They will come in and do a light workout initially, because we want to bring them back slowly,” Smart said. “They will work out in smaller groups. Twenty or so guys to a group. Then, of the 20 that come in, they’ll be subdivided into groups of seven. So you’re looking at a 7-person rotation in a 12,000 square foot weight room and they will be spaced out.”
Smart said that there will be a cleaning crew handy to disinfect the area immediately following each session.
He then discussed the actual decision that allowed the return of players and a possible return of college football this season.
“I certainly think that fiscally and financially it’s going to benefit if there is a football season, but that has nothing to do with the decisions that go into it medically,” Smart said. “A lot of people have said, ‘Well, the SEC has had to come back really strong with comeback dates and return to sports, and they’ve had this protocol to allow us to play football. But every decision that’s made at the SEC level, I can assure you, is made by infectious disease people. It’s based on information about the safety and well-being of the student-athletes.”
Smart said most of the parents and players would prefer them workout at UGA, where the equipment and venue will be professionally cleaned rather than at a local gym.
“Wherever it is they are working out, at a local local high school or a local gym that has opened back up … is that environment any more safe than one that is professionally cleaned, monitored and taken care of by our staff? Most of the kids we talked to, they are more comfortable saying, If I’m going to workout, then I’m gong to do it there.”
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