The GRP's Training Bubble

GRP Skiers on a hike on the Long Trail. When you live together, under strict regulations, you can safely get close for pictures. GRP U23 skier Lina Sutro photo.

Sports fans may be familiar with the steps taken by the NBA, the Champions League or WorldTour cycling to establish safe bubbles for training and racing during the pandemic. But what is the Green Racing Project (GRP) doing to continue their training safely?

Since March, GRP Row, Ski and Biathlon have been living in a strict training bubble whose rules have been known as “The Pact”. The pact guidelines were built off of USOPC’s Return to Training Guidelines, the USRowing Return to Training Guidelines, the US Ski & Snowboard COVID-19 Resource document, and State of Vermont guidance. 

These guidelines have been critical to safety, particularly given the closeness of the GRP. This team lives together (sharing housing), eats together, shares training equipment and spaces. Any COVID case in the team could readily infect the entire group - to say nothing of staff and the broader community - very quickly.

Beyond the Center’s COVID policy, some of the highlights the GRP Pact mandates include:

• Double quarantine before residential training at Craftsbury (once before you travel, and quarantined again here)

• Strict monitoring and re-quarantine at the sign of any symptoms

• Separate mealtimes and physical spaces on campus for skiers/scullers and staff

• Athletes will not go into stores, dwellings, or buildings unless approved by coaches

• Athletes will only leave the Craftsbury property for:

  1. Designated training activities 

  2. Approved cross-training opportunities

  3. Curbside pickup at approved stores

• Athletes will not have any close contact with staff or members of the community for the duration of the program

(Read all the details of the pact)

Athletes, coaches and supporters often talk about the sacrifices required for sport, but in the era of COVID that entails a whole other list of commitments and responsibilities beyond the normal bounds of that statement.

But while the price of becoming a quaran-team is high, the benefits of a disciplined, safe training group are worth it for serious athletes with international goals in our community.