Riverhounds Development Academy returns to training sessions with excitement

Athletes have been itching to return to their sports since the coronavirus pandemic shut down leagues and organizations around the country in mid-March.

So when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf elevated Allegheny County into the green phase of his reopening plan last Friday, sports organizations were ready to give their young athletes the option to return to the field.

The Riverhounds Development Academy welcomed athletes back to Highmark Stadium for training sessions last Friday, and RDA executive director Scott Gibson said they were thrilled to be back.

“They were flying. They were buzzing, and plus, we’ve missed them,” Gibson said. “As a coach, as a trainer, you form these relationships with players and families, and for that to be taken away from you is unique and odd. So it was a good message, and we can use it as a learning tool in a way that you never know when the game can be taken away from you.”

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down the RDA, Gibson said he and his staff resorted to social media videos to get training tips and drills to their players in order to keep them in shape.

Former Riverhounds players and current RDA coaches such as Kevin Kerr, Stephen Okai and others put together short videos of drills the players could do and sent them out on social media. They also sent assignments for the players, which included watching professional games from the past.

The RDA coaches also resorted to Instagram Live workouts, which Gibson said had about 250 to 300 participants. But having the players workout on their own doesn’t have the same effect as working out with coaches in a team setting.

“Three months for a young player, a very competitive player, is a very long time in the development of a player,” Gibson said. “They trained all winter, and we were preparing for games in the spring and that was taken away from them. So it was important to get them back as soon as we could, and, trust me, they were itching to get back. But, again, we had to be very mindful.”

In their return to the field, the RDA, which has players from U10 through high school ages, has taken the necessary measures to keep players and coaches safe.

With one-hour sessions running from about noon to 10 p.m., the RDA has about 20 to 25 players in each session at the most, and the players are properly spread around the field.

The soccer balls, cones and any other equipment are disinfected in between each session.

They also have a specific check-in process with multiple stations that include temperature checks, a sanitizing station and a daily checklist players and parents fill out to inform the RDA how players are feeling.

The Riverhounds also are returning to full training in separate phases. For the first two weeks of their “Return-To-Play” process, the athletes will go through on-ball specific training with no contact, which Gibson believes will be instrumental to returning them to full play.

“It’s actually going really well, and the kids haven’t had training for three months,” Gibson said. “They’ve had the videos and things like that, but it’s not the same. From a standpoint of an athlete and a player, even if we were allowed to do the contact stuff, we wouldn’t because they haven’t trained, and we don’t want injuries and stuff like that. They just need to get back on the ball and get their skills sharpened back up.”

The RDA will move to its second phase after two weeks while also closely monitoring what is going on with the coronavirus. In Phase 2, groups will get a little bigger, and players will be able to play in groups of 3-on-3 or 4-on-4. Players will move to full scrimmaging in Phase 3.

Gibson also said teams will be able to return to competitive play in mid-August.