Chico state athletes back on campus for workouts starting in April

Chico State athletics have not competed or practiced since last March because of the pandemic, but now they will have reduced team hours this spring.

Following more breaking news -- chico state athletics..

Getting ready for a comeback.

Action news now reporter tori apodaca is live on campus.

Tori -- how soon could we see players out on the field?

Yes, it is such an exciting time for chico state athletics right now, as they will be allowed to start training together on campus starting april 5th.

Take sot greg clink, chico state men's basketball head coach "it's not going to be a lot, but it's going to be something."

Chico state athletes will have just five weeks to be reunited on campus with coaches and teammates.

Other college programs have been playing while chico state has been patiently waiting.

Take sot joshua curls, chico state men's basketball "it's been tough to watch other teams play because obviously you know we have a love for the game and a passion that was obviously cut short last year and again this year."

And all teams will be divided into small groups, or "pods," and will be allotted two 90-minute sport skill instruction sessions per week, per pod.

Tori standup they are not sure when they will see a return to competition or fans in the stands, but for now coaches and athletes are excited to be back on campus.

Take sot greg clink, chico state men's basketball head coach "we'll get in and we'll work on basketball and we'll develop skills and get a lot out of that, but what i am really looking forward to is just being around our student athletes again."

Take sot joshua curls, chico state men's basketball "our team is our family you know, we have a tight group of guys.

Coach clink runs a tight program, we have a nice culture and we all like being around each other."

No competitions or full team practices will be allowed just yet.

But athletes are staying positive.

Take sot andrew renteria, chico state baseball "at the end of the day you are going to be playing again at some point and you don't know when it is, but just light at the end of the tunnel and just keep grinding, grinding, grinding."

And the different athletes and coaches i spoke to hope that they will be back in full action this fall, but for now are looking forward to finally all the activities will follow strict safety strict safety requirements including wearing masks, symptom tracking, physical distancing and regular covid testing.