Athletic Program Forges Ahead Amid Pandemic
New Athletic Director At The Helm
Stephanie Luce, Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at the New Lebanon Jr./Sr. High School, knows a trial by fire. Luce, who taught elementary school in East Greenbush for five years, only began her new post in August of 2020 amid a global pandemic.
She has worked tirelessly with coaches and others to handle the logistics of developing an athletic program while keeping students safe. Despite this, Luce has persevered, “It goes beyond just athletics – there’s a definite social-emotional benefit. When you feel healthy and you’re involved and active, it has lots of benefits for the whole child.”
Luce says her interactions with students speak for themselves, “I go down and check in with them before practice and they just seem happy to be there. They’re wearing their masks, they’re practicing social distancing, and you can tell that they truly want to be there.”
The process has not been without its challenges. She explained, “It’s very different from having families come into the building to meet with their coaches before the season starts. We have to do everything virtually, so making families aware of that is critical.”
Luce said coming up with a plan that incorporated all the social distancing and mask wearing protocols was a challenge. Before all practices, students are given a temperature check and fill out a Covid survey; spots have been marked on the pool deck six feet apart.
Because New Lebanon and Berlin Central School District are in a merged sports program, this creates an added layer of planning. “We have two shifts of practices to keep the two cohorts separate. When one team is in the pool, the other is on the observation deck,” she explained. They also use separate locker rooms, and between the two shifts, shared spaces are sanitized.
During meets, teams compete from their own locations and coaches tally the scores afterwards. Luce said it was important for her to bring the athletic events to the community, even if it couldn’t be in person. “All of our meets are being livestreamed on the district Facebook page,” she explained.
“I think being able to make the swim season a reality in New Lebanon is giving people hope for the future. We have a very positive future ahead of us, we have to look ahead,” Luce said. She added, “As a new athletic director, this was a learning experience for me, because this is the first time I’ve gotten a sports season up and running and worked with our coaches, and for me, that is a personal success as well.”