June 13, 2020
Dear Bearcat Coaches, Athletes, and Fans,
I hope this letter finds everyone doing well. We were very excited to receive the information from the VHSL last week about our coaches and athletes being allowed to return to out of season workouts. However, the start date of Monday, June 15th, was a bit misleading. Before we can return to workouts we have to submit a health and safety action plan that not only covers return to athletics, but return to school as well to the Virginia Department of Education. There are many aspects of this plan and I promise you that we as a school division are working as quickly and as diligently as possible to create a plan that is in the best interest of our student athletes.
The VHSL has suspended the normal mandatory dead period for the summer of 2020 only, which was scheduled for June 29th-July 4th. Based on where we are currently with this process that Monday, June 29th would probably be the earliest that we would be ready to start back with our student athletes. The 2019-20 VHSL Physical is only valid through June 30th of 2020. While the VHSL does not require a student-athlete to have a valid physical for out of season workouts, BVPS does require a valid physical to be on file for the safety and protection for all involved. Our Certified Athletic Trainer, Mr. Randall Hodge, is working with local doctors to try to create a plan to offer $10 physicals at VHS, but at this time we are not sure if that will happen. Any potential BVPS student athletes must have a physical dated after May 1, 2020 to be eligible to work out.
In the very near future coaches will be reaching out to potential student athletes and parents to gauge interest in out of season workouts. Once we have that information collected we will be releasing a workout schedule and guidelines that must be followed. We will also ask that parents sign and return a participation permission form. If you have not heard from your coach by Thursday, June 18th, please email the following information to [email protected] and [email protected]: child’s name, sports they are interested in, parent’s name, contact number, mailing address, and email address.
To keep everyone updated as more information becomes available we will release information via social media on Twitter @BearcatAP, BVPS webpage- www.bvps.org, and Virginia Bearcat Athletic Page- www.virginiahs.rschoolteams.com. We do not know what the fall season will look like yet, but there a several conversations taking place with local, regional, and state officials to provide the best opportunities for our student-athletes.
I appreciate everyone’s patience throughout this process. Again, we are very excited for our kids to start working towards returning to their respective activities, but their safety and the safety of our coaches will remain our #1 priority. If you have any questions please contact me at 276 821-5856 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Brad Harper
Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Virginia High School
Here is a link to the information needed from anyone wishing to participate in athletics... https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqZN4asEAwicFEIwmX7ujzzM7QQhQuHGYs35SyIM_Pv1Xbeg/viewform
A printable copy is below: