We are grateful for the many generous donations in response to last week’s blog in regard to supporting Shrine Hospitals and our son Trey’s participation in the 67th Annual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl. If you are still interested in supporting but have not yet done so, you can donate here: Trey Alercio’s Giving Page We remain optimistic the game will be played, and even more donations will flow to such a worthy cause.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s most recent update allows for organized sports to resume effective Monday, June 15. We will begin our football summer 
Organized Team Activities (OTAs) at 5pm that day. There are some restrictions, but we will find a way (and it may even be a better way!) Close contact activities are not yet allowed so we cannot engage in intra-squad scrimmages but we can do no and low contact physical conditioning and skill-building drills.
We need to keep groups to 25 or less including coaches. We will move our weightlifting equipment from our weight room into our fieldhouse to allow for the 25 participants to practice social distancing unless spotting. We will incorporate USA Weightlifting’s suggestion to have spotters on each side of a bar instead of a single spotter in the middle closer to the lifter. Equipment will be cleaned and disinfected regularly. Make no bones about it, we are taking the conditions and circumstances seriously and use the opportunity to reinforce discipline, attention to detail, and doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.
Our skill-building drills for offense and defense will be held outside. Everyone will have a cloth face-covering in their possession to be used, as necessary when physical distancing measures are difficult to maintain such as when the entire group needs to be addressed. There will be no spitting and no sharing of water bottles. Each player will be encouraged to bring their own bottle. We look forward to welcoming our returning players back and our new players into our program. Despite the challenges we’ve faced this Spring, we will focus on the fundamentals of culture, character, and teamwork. Together we will always be stronger than any one of us could be alone.
Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!
O Line Skills 