FROM STAFF REPORTS The Rhode Island Football Academy will be holding its 26th camp from June 29 to July 3 at Cranston Stadium in accordance with the state’s Phase 2 plan for reopening.

This camp is for ages 6-12 and 13-18 years of age. The camp previously was conducted at the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick, which is closed due to the global pandemic. RIFA has been providing football instruction to over 5,000 youth and high school players from throughout the region.

RIFA is the area’s longest-running, independently-operated football camp in the area, and identifies itself as a football camp, not a summer camp. RIFA has always adapted its training format to ensure it can be delivered in a format which is easily understood by players of all levels.

Below is some information regarding this year’s camp:

Camper Check-in Process

Upon arrival, campers should follow the signs for parking and proceed to their respective check-in station. During check-in campers will complete a COVID-19 screening and have their temperature checked by a staff member as required by the State of RI. We will conduct this screening and temperature check each day. If a camper answers YES to ANY question, or has temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher, the camper will be excluded from the facility. Parents are always required to wear masks or face coverings when checking in campers.

Camper Groupings

The State protocols require sports camps to limit each group size to 15 people including staff and social distance between the groups of 14 feet. The RI Football Academy has always limited the size of each instruction group to no more than 12 per coach and always has sufficient spacing to safely operate its instruction. The protocols refer to a group as a “Stable Group”. What this means is; each grouping must remain the same throughout the duration of the camp. Coaches and staff will be required to wear face coverings at any time when 6 ft social distancing can’t be maintained. Campers are not required to wear face coverings during drills. However, face coverings are encouraged when not in their Stable Group.

For example: Campers selected their position grouping as part of the registration process. If a camper selected RB/DB and there are 20 campers in each position grouping. Two coaches would be assigned to each position group and each coach will have 10 campers. Each group of 10 is then considered to be a “Stable Group”.

Each Stable Group will remain intact in the same general area of the training facility where they are training. The coaching staff may move from station to station to conduct training. This method helps minimize the movement of the campers between stations and other camper contact. There may be some instances where campers may need to change their training area. In this instance campers will remain as a Stable Group, even if it is just a single camper. This format ensures we are maintaining the Stable Group requirements, the 14 feet spacing and it minimizes the opportunity for groups to violate any spacing requirements.

Each Stable Group will be numbered based on the position group selected by the camper. These groups will have the same workout station throughout the duration of the camp. Each station will have its own tent and table with sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer to be used by a particular group. Campers will keep any water jugs along with any coolers for snacks and/or fruit at their tent. All water jugs and coolers must be marked with the player's full name. Disposal of water bottles, paper and plastic bags are not allowed.

All camp equipment used during training sessions remains with each Stable Group. Equipment used such as hand shields, step overs, ladders etc. will be power washed and sanitized between sessions daily.