Durango High School athletic director Ryan Knoll said there's good energy on the campus right now as students return to normal activities like sports, band and drama.
With the pandemic still ongoing, however, he said the situation is still fluid.
"Getting back to normal is the goal," Knoll said. "It won't be 2019 normal, but but it will better than last year."
Fans again will be allowed in the stands to cheer on the teams. Knorr, who has been working with San Juan Basin Public Health and the school district, said there will be no capacity limit for outdoor events. He hopes to allow fans in at 50% capacity for volleyball, the only indoor sport this fall.
"The impression I'm getting is the community is ready to get back (to events) in person and celebrate the athletes and kids involved in activities," he said. "I hope we can fulfill the vision of getting the community back out under the Friday night lights, fill the gym and pack the bleachers."
He described last year's games, played in front of empty bleachers, as "bizarre" and "eerie."
"We were missing all of the energy from the fans, especially the student body,“ Knorr said.
In another big step toward returning to normal, athletes will be able to breathe a little easier since they won’t be required to compete in masks.
The sports also will return to their normal fall, winter and summer seasons, and the number of competitions won’t be as limited.
While the hope is for sports to return to a prepandemic normal, some of the technological changes implemented during the pandemic will remain in place.
Even though fans will be able to attend games in person, Knoll said they plan to livestream video of some sports.
"That was kind of a positive,“ Knorr said, adding that they got video pretty dialed in during in the pandemic. ”We plan to continue to stream as many games as we can.“
The plan, he said, is to stream all the games that take place in the school’s stadium and the gym, since they have electricity and internet available there. Those same factors, however, will likely keep them from streaming softball games and the home golf tournaments.
Another change implemented last year was contact-less entry into games with tickets available for purchase online.
“The online ticketing system is something that will stick around,” Knorr said, noting that it sped up entry into contests so no big lines formed.
For fans without internet and others who don’t want to download the app, Knorr said he anticipates cash lines this year so people can pay at the gates.
Knorr also noted that they switched companies that will handle the online ticket sales. Primo Ticketing, a company based in Durango, will facilitate the sales.
Fans may purchase tickets and find links to the video streams online at Durangoathletics.com.
The main Durango High School gym will be better than normal this year as improvements take shape.
“That gym needs a lot of attention,” Knorr said, adding that it still had the original floors and old logos from when the school was first built in the 1970s.
The first work being done in the gym is refinishing the floor.
"We sanded down the main gym, and we’ll repaint it," Knorr said. “It will be a massive face-lift.”
He said the floor was scheduled to be completed in mid-July, but ran into some delays. The volleyball team has had to start its season with practices at Miller Middle School, but Knorr said they’re hoping to have them back practicing at the high school on Monday.
He said plans are also in the works for new bleachers in the gym and a new digital scoreboard.
colivas@durangoherald.com
