Mt. Ararat girls’ soccer coach Kevin Flaherty runs with his team during an early morning summer conditioning session Wednesday, July 31. Cooper Sullivan / The Times Record

Summer is not over, but the high school fall sports season will soon arrive.

High school athletes are wrapping up their organized team activities this week, before the mandated hands-off period begins Aug. 5.

The hands-off period prohibits contact between coaches and athletes. Fall sports teams open practices on Aug. 19.

During this two-week stretch, high school athletes are provided a true break from school-related activities.

“I think it’s good,” Morse boys’ soccer head coach Chuck Reece said. “Kids need a break, and kids need time to be kids. That’s one of the reasons why I went back to three days a week, so that they could have their summers back.”

Reece, along with other coaches across the state, has been holding summer practice sessions since mid-June. The Shipbuilders meet once a week for evening training and twice a week for scrimmages. Unlike some other coaches, Reece does not spend much time on conditioning drills, because many of his players work out on their own.

Instead, he runs skill-based workouts with an emphasis on getting athletes as many touches as possible.

“We were talking about it mid-game, about the kids that have been coming all summer,” Reece said after a recent scrimmage against Erskine. “We’ve seen a lot of growth in those kids in three days a week, from freshmen to seniors.”

Mt. Ararat girls’ soccer coach Kevin Flaherty keeps his team on a similar summer schedule but with a different approach.

The Eagles play two scrimmages a week, but do not hold set training sessions. Flaherty said he is not a fan of in-depth organized skill sessions during the summer.

Spectators sit in the McMann Field stands as the Morse boys’ soccer team scrimmages Erskine Academy Tuesday, July 30. Cooper Sullivan / The Times Record

“I feel if we do skill-based sessions all summer, it loses its momentum going into the season, and we are bored of it already,” Flaherty said. “I just want them to have fun this summer and get some fitness.”

In addition to the scrimmages, Flaherty helped organize a strength and conditioning program at Coastal Performance in Brunswick. The five-week program, which the school’s booster club paid for, focuses on speed and endurance training, as well as injury prevention.

Emmet Taub, a trainer at Coastal Performance and a former soccer player, has worked with the Eagles this summer. His workout program includes single-leg stability and mobility exercises to decrease the risk of knee injuries.

“Going there and getting the fitness in an organized location with professionals through the hands-off period is huge,” Flaherty said. “Especially when we are going into a preseason that is already short enough, we need to make sure that when we hit the 19th, all the girls are ready to go.”

Some teams do not have the luxury of participating in outside conditioning programs. Furthermore, Morse football coach Jason Darling said, athletes handle the hands-off period differently.

“We tell them that two weeks of doing nothing is detrimental, but that they should be able to relax and spend time with family, because come the first day of fall practice the grind starts, and the next two and a half months are very busy for them,” he said.

Darling added that sound preparation translates to improved individual and team performance as the season progresses.

“They need to come to fall practice in shape,” he said. “Those first couple of weeks can be really tough if you are not in shape.”

For other fall sports, like cross country and golf, the hands-off period doesn’t disrupt much.

Brunswick golf coach Mike Routhier said he doesn’t schedule any regular practices, because many of his players have memberships at nearby courses and participate in junior tournaments. Routhier does offer his expertise, whether situationally during a round or mechanically on the driving range, but it is entirely up to each player.

“If they want me to come by, and if I have the time, I’d love to do that,” he said. “Otherwise, I say to just get out and play. Have some fun.”