Athletics and Activities Update (9/1/20)

Athletics and Activities Update

It’s been a big summer in the athletics and activities department. Not only have we been adjusting to a pretty fluid situation around the pandemic and what we will be allowed to offer, but we also have two new directors. Brian Davis has been hired as Activities Director and Ty Gonrowski is our new Athletic Director. Both of our new directors are excited to find opportunities for our students to get involved with athletics and activities during this very different school year.

Ty is entering his 13th year at Gresham High School and has been Activities Director for the last six. Prior to that he taught English and journalism, and has coached football, cross country, girls basketball and softball for the Gophers. Before coaching at Gresham, Ty spent a number of seasons in the PIL coaching football and baseball at Cleveland, and football and girls basketball at Franklin.

Brian has spent the last 25-years in education and athletics, teaching AP Psychology, Sociology, Honors World History, AVID and Options programs, and has extensive  OSAA experience coaching multiple sports: volleyball, football, track & field, and girls basketball. He also coaches youth baseball and basketball. In addition, Brian is a staff developer with an emphasis in "Cultural Responsiveness" and takes pride in connecting with and inspiring others to become their best selves.

Briefly, here is what we know about what athletics will look like at the start of the school year (as of August 28). Our governing body, the OSAA, has adopted a new calendar for athletics for this coming year. This means that from the start of school in September through late December, there will be no games as we normally know them. However, the Gresham-Barlow School District is working on a plan to allow coaches to develop virtual workouts. This is in line with what nearly all of the Mt. Hood Conference is doing as well as many other schools at the 6A level. More information is to come on this but for a student to participate in these, they will need to be cleared through the athletics and activities office. We will have this system available to families to sign students up as soon as possible.

Clearance will look similar to years past where the student and their family will still have to sign a waiver, provide a physical and do some other paperwork. We are, for now however, holding off on charging a participation fee until what our actual competition seasons look like comes into focus.

We will provide you with an update to this plan as they become available. As usual, please feel free to contact any of us in the office with any questions.

Ty Gonrowski

Athletic Director

gonrowski@gresham.k12.or.us