Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

PREP SPORTS: Local teams doing their best with flu and cold

In 35 years of coaching, Lynden High School cross country coach Bob Carson has never thought about cancelling a practice.

That changed this season when a number of his runners came down with a cold, the flu or injuries.

"This year I thought about it because so many of my athletes were sick or nursing injuries," Carson wrote in an e-mail. "Seven out of 15 of those on my boys' team and five out of 12 of those on the girls' team have lost significant time because of illness."

Carson and the Lynden cross country team are hardly alone. At some point or another during the fall season nearly every high school sports team in Whatcom County has had to deal with illness.

The lucky ones - like the Mount Baker and Lummi volleyball teams - have been relatively sickness free or had their bouts spaced out between a small number of athletes.

"We have really been pushing getting good rest, eating plenty of healthy meals, and staying away from others who might be sick," Mount Baker volleyball coach Mary LeSage wrote in an e-mail. "So far so good, but we do have a lot of season left. For now I will just continue to pray that we stay healthy through the remainder of our season."

The harder hit teams - like the Nooksack Valley cross country team - have seen their numbers dwindle by up to half at times this season while athletes stay at home trying to recover.

"My team had a weekend invite early in the year and half the team didn't make the trip because they were sick," Nooksack Valley cross country coach Nic Castona said. "I was just glad we got it early in the year and got it over with when we did."

Fighting through the cold and flu season is nothing new for high school teams around Whatcom County, but with fears of the H1N1 flu virus on the rise along with the common cold and flu, some programs are taking even greater precautions to stay healthy this season.

"I've been harping on them since August to not share water bottles and to stay home if they're sick," Sehome girls' soccer coach Andria Fountain said in a phone interview. "We've had a couple of players here or there out for a day or two but that's about it."

Limiting the sharing of water bottles and staying home isn't the only way schools are trying to keep their athletes and students healthy. Lynden High School athletic director Mike McKee said the school has been very careful to frequently disinfect its weight room and locker rooms, among other things.

He didn't think Lynden's athletes were at any greater risk of catching a virus than any other students at the school.

"We've been hit a little bit in the last few weeks, but from what I've heard about other schools around I think we're probably doing a little better than most," McKee said in a phone interview. "Obviously we're doing the best we can, but I think all the schools around here probably are. It's just a matter of being careful. Our custodians are doing a great job making sure our weight room and locker rooms are clean and disinfected."

Placing hand sanitizer stations around school hallways and in classrooms are another thing schools are trying to do to combat the spread of germs. Mount Baker athletic director Brenda Terpstra keeps hand sanitizer on her desk and said her coaches do a good job keeping athletes informed.

"One thing we're doing is preaching that they wash their hands," Terpstra said. "In the weight room after lifting we're always telling them don't go to your mouth or eyes with your hands until you've washed your hands. So far I think we've done OK. We've been able to avoid a big hit and we're hoping it stays that way."

Blaine volleyball coach Sheli Moore has also been stressing the importance of using hand sanitizer to her team. She said they haven't been drastically affected by the flu or cold this season, but they've also been careful.

"The only thing I have stressed this year is using hand sanitizer, especially after away games," Moore wrote in an e-mail. "The girls are willingly doing this and remember on their own. I don't think this year's team has been affected any more than prior years. Common sense has been stressed to the girls about what to do when not feeling well around players that are healthy."

Some coaches, like Castona at Nooksack Valley, have gone to even greater measures to make sure athletes rest rather than compete if they aren't feeling well. He wrote in an e-mail that the Pioneers have used disposable thermometers at practice and on the bus to a meet to check the temperature of anyone feeling sick. It's the first time he's done that.

"We've just tried to educate them on how it spreads and we're really strict on a kid staying home if they are sick so we could minimize the spread of it," Castona wrote.

Whether it happens in September at the start of the season or later in the year as postseason rolls around, most coaches said that at least one wave of sickness passing through a team is typically unavoidable.

On Tuesday, Oct. 20 the Squalicum volleyball team played its match against Bellingham without three players due to illness. Coach Julie Hathaway said things like that are going to happen throughout the course of a season no matter what precautions are taken.

"It's inevitable," Hathaway said in a phone interview. "You're dealing with high school kids and high school kids get sick. Something we've tried to do is keep practices a little shorter and of course stress that they don't share water bottles and get enough rest. Luckily for us we have a deep bench."

Reach Joe Sunnen at joe.sunnen@bellinghamherald.com or 756-2862.