A5
FRIDAY
January 29, 2021
Winter Sports
SeasideSignal.com
Olstedt leads Gulls into new era
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
Marla Olstedt would
have made her Seaside var-
sity basketball coaching
debut Friday night.
In their original revised
schedule because of the
coronavirus pandemic, the
Lady Gulls were set to open
their shortened 2021 win-
ter season in a nonleague
game against Vernonia. It
also would have been the
fi rst varsity basketball game
in Seaside’s new high school
building.
Unfortunately, action on
the new court, opening night
and Olstedt’s debut will
all have to wait for another
time.
Everything’s still on hold
in the world of Oregon high
school sports, but Olstedt
and the Gulls will eventually
play that fi rst game.
Any delays won’t stop
Olstedt from continuing her
life’s goal.
“I knew that basketball
was always going to play a
very big role in my life. What
that looked like, I really
didn’t know, but I couldn’t
be luckier,” she said.
On the bright side, she
tells herself, “I’m coaching
for my alma mater, our pro-
gram is supported by a great
community and I’ve got a
program with great girls.”
The Gulls also would
have played a home game
Monday
night
against
Knappa. Whenever that fi rst
game comes, Olstedt has
been well trained for the
moment.
Her mentor at Sea-
side was Mike Jacobson,
the former girls’ coach at
Knappa and Seaside who
now coaches at Astoria.
The Jacobson coaching tree
includes Tracie Nygaard-
Brockey at Knappa and
Olstedt at Seaside.
“I’ve been very fortu-
nate to have great men-
tors who have helped me
along the way,” Olstedt said.
“Between my high school
coach (Jacobson) and my
college coach Chad Meadors
(Lower Columbia College),
they’ve been great resources
for my growth as a coach.
“Coaching
alongside
Mike Hawes was a great
experience the last couple
years, allowing me to help
make decisions at the varsity
level,” she added.
Olstedt was a standout
athlete at Seaside in soccer,
basketball and track. Her
brother, Dennis, the head
track coach at Scappoose,
was a Seaside Hall of Fame
standout in football, basket-
ball and track.
“Being involved in the
(basketball) program the last
fi ve-plus years, I have great
relationships with the girls at
all levels,” Olstedt said. “We
will make sure all grade lev-
els continue to be supported
from the high school level.”
And Gulls basketball will
still be Gulls basketball, no
matter what playground or
gym it’s played in.
“Traditions are a big
thing in our program. Just
last week, I asked the high
school girls their favor-
ite memory to date,” Olst-
edt said. “The majority said
our annual Cedar Ridge trip
with grade levels four to 12.
Three days of having fun
with their peers. That won’t
change.”
Meanwhile, high school
athletes and coaches in Ore-
gon have been through a lot
since September — yet none
have played or coached in a
single game.
“What a wild six months
it’s been,” said Olstedt, who
keeps herself busy by work-
ing in sales and marketing at
Lum’s Auto Center. “As for
our program, we have been
offering voluntary work-
Jeff Ter Har
Seaside basketball coach Marla Olstedt.
outs two to three times a
week when the weather per-
mits. Due to our county’s
risk level, all workouts have
taken place outdoors, most
often at Broadway Park.”
The winter sports season
— basketball, wrestling,
swimming — is scheduled
to take place the second
week of May through June
— when high schools are
seeing their best weather of
the school year.
Winter sports should be
getting players who are in
great shape, playing their
third different sport in three
months.
“We’ll be the fi nal sports
season of the year, so the
girls will be in great shape
to get on the court,” Olstedt
said. “We just have to make
sure they are prepared for
each day. A regular season
fl ies. I can’t imagine how
quickly these six weeks will
go. Whatever it looks like,
I’m ready for these girls to
get back in the classroom,
on the court, fi eld, etc.”
And, “being that our sea-
son begins in May, we’ve
included more conditioning
and injury prevention drills
in our workouts for the girls
to prepare for their upcom-
ing fall season. My hope is
to prepare them the best we
can. I’d hate to see any ath-
lete sidelined due to injury
in their already shortened
season.”
As for basketball, “I look
forward to getting back on
the court,” she said. “These
girls have dedicated a lot
of time to extracurricu-
lar activities and deserve
an opportunity to play. We
have a senior in our pro-
gram who shows up to
nearly every workout with
great optimism for her fi nal
season. That’s refreshing to
see.”
Reopening: ‘We want to meet the needs of all our families’
Continued from Page A1
parents and our students.”
Even in the hours lead-
ing up to the board meet-
ing, Penrod was involved
in a meeting with state offi -
cials and other administra-
tors to discuss new advisory
metrics in regards to case
counts.
Before, school districts in
the orange high-risk level —
which includes the Seaside
School District — had to
continue comprehensive dis-
tance learning while county
case counts were at 200 or
more per 100,000. As of Jan.
19, that fi gure was increased.
Districts can implement
careful, prioritized phas-
ing-in for students even with
case counts of 200 to 350
per 100,000. If case counts
exceed 350 per 100,000, dis-
tricts are recommended to
stick with distance learning.
“This is an advised
guide,” Penrod said. “The
superintendent and school
board members can make
a decision of their choice
that works best for their
community.”
In-person instruction
Clatsop County has hov-
ered around 250 cases per
100,000 for most of Decem-
ber and January. In Decem-
ber, the board decided to
wait until Feb. 1 to evalu-
ate the situation and deter-
mine whether the district
could start phasing-in ele-
mentary students by Feb. 15.
They are committed to giv-
ing teachers, staff and com-
munity members a defi nitive
two-week notice before the
transition.
In the next couple weeks,
school administrators plan
to work with teacher leader
teams to develop the best
model to deliver hybrid
instruction to students. The
goal is to provide an a.m.
and p.m. model for ele-
mentary students so they
are in school four days per
week. That requires address-
ing challenges with trans-
portation and meal deliv-
ery. School administrators
also must fi gure out the
best method for delivering
instruction to students who
opt to stay in distance learn-
ing, even when permitted
back on campus.
“We want to meet the
needs of all our fami-
lies,” Penrod said. “That is
defi nitely a discussion in
progress.”
When students do return,
certain health and safety pro-
tocols will continue to be
required, not only advised.
These include providing 35
square feet of space per stu-
dent; enforcing 6 -feet phys-
ical distancing; prescreening
individuals before they enter
school; and making face
coverings a requirement,
except during staggered
lunch times and for individ-
uals who are protected under
the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act. Staff and teachers
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Oregon Department of Education
cannot eat at the same time
as students or together in
common areas. The district
can’t allow use of the gym
until Clatsop County moves
down from the extreme -risk
category.
Differing opinions
During the meeting, Pen-
rod and the school board
members addressed the chal-
lenge of weighing the vary-
ing needs and opinions of
teachers, parents, students
and other stakeholders.
“Many different people
have many different needs,”
Penrod said. “It’s our job as
the board, and my job as the
superintendent, to look at as
many different perspectives
as we can.”
Comments made during
the meeting raised concerns
about the declining mental
health of students — partic-
ularly high schoolers — who
remain in distance learn-
ing. One person asked why
the district is being reactive
instead of proactive in offer-
ing in-person instruction and
on-site extracurriculars at
the allowable level.
Board president Mark
Truax pointed out the dis-
trict must follow the regu-
lations and guidance of the
state, as well as the limita-
tion on gathering sizes being
enforced countywide, not
just on schools.
“It’s a moving target,” he
said. “We are doing every-
thing we can to try and get
the schools open as best we
can.”
Meanwhile, a survey of
Seaside teachers revealed a
majority of them are uncom-
fortable with in-person
instruction, especially until
they have received the vac-
cination. Chuck Albright, a
Seaside teacher and presi-
dent of the Seaside Educa-
tion Association, said that
“even with a changing goal-
post, the data is not great.”
“We are dealing with the
spike in the pandemic right
now,” he said. “Teachers do
not feel comfortable starting
without that vaccine.”
Additionally,
Penrod
said, the district faces insur-
ance liability issues if they
decide to bring students
back on campus with case
counts at 350 or more per
100,000.
“What that liability is,
we’re not quite sure yet,”
she said. “If we are follow-
ing all of our safety pro-
tocols, if we’re following
our hybrid plans, of course
we lower our risk. But yes,
there is some risk, which
is completely out of our
control.”
Referencing a quote
by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the
nation’s top infectious dis-
ease expert, she said, “The
virus sets the timeline; we
don’t set the timeline.”
“We are working in an
area we haven’t worked in
before,” she added. “We
will do our best to be as cre-
ative as possible while still
following the health and
safety protocols.”
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