By requirement, athletic directors must have a versatile skill set and extensive breadth of expertise.

Yet even the most experienced ADs are being forced to learn on the fly this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, becoming experts in air circulation, sanitization practices, and other necessary protocols to give their student-athletes a shot at playing this winter.

At Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Tom Arria, the District A Athletic Director of the Year in 2019, has spent the past couple weeks working with local scientists to ensure that the school’s facilities meet the complex standards laid out by the Cambridge Board of Health.

By making a few adjustments, such as adding air scrubbers to the school’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, Arria was able to get the War Memorial gymnasium and facilities up to the required amount of air exchange per hour based on their expected occupancy. The Falcons will being practicing this Monday.

“They don’t teach you this stuff in athletic director school,” Arria said with a laugh. “A Sports Management degree doesn’t tell you about air exchange and air quality, but [ADs] are getting a real appreciation for how some of these things work.”

In order to get basketball approved by the West Newbury Board of Health, Pentucket AD Dan Thornton had to incorporate unique technology.

The plan is to use a floor buffer, similar to a Zamboni, between each basketball practice. The custodial staff will also disinfect all surfaces with a sanitizing fogger that emerges from a futuristic backpack, and after a 30-minute buffer period, the next team will take the floor.

“[As ADs] we’re good at a lot of things, but that’s totally out of my realm,” said Thornton. “These are things we never had to look at before.”

Pentucket is in a unique situation because it’s on a shared campus with a middle school that is just over the West Newbury town line in Groveland, where the sub-varsity basketball teams practice. Those teams had to wait an extra week for the Groveland Board of Health to approve the facility this past Thursday.

The Sachems use Valley Forum in Haverhill for ice hockey practices, but Haverhill’s hockey team was only recently approved to practice.

In Haverhill, the local board of health voted on Dec. 10 for the school district to go fully remote until Jan. 18 and postpone all athletics until that date. After being convinced that the delay would effectively cancel winter sports for the student-athletes, the board voted to allow practices starting Dec. 21 under safety protocols similar to what is being implemented at Pentucket.

“In a season like this, practices are really just as important as games,” said Haverhill athletic director Tom O’Brien. “Kids can learn remotely, but they can’t play sports remotely, and I think [the Board] saw the importance of sports in these kids’ lives.”

Even recently upgraded facilities can’t provide a guarantee that school districts can get their student-athletes on the court.

Malden public schools concluded a huge renovation to the HVAC systems in its seven buildings this winter, just before the pandemic hit.

With the HVAC control room at Malden High, AD Charlie Conefrey and his staff can keep an eye on air circulation and temperature. But they’re still planning on a 10-day buffer following winter break before beginning practices on Jan. 11.

“It’s been a long road to get here,” said Conefrey, a member of the MIAA’s Board of Directors.

“We’re very lucky our facilities are in great shape. Across the [Greater Boston] League, we have densely populated school districts, so there is some concern. It’s been great to see other urban districts, like Lowell, have success this fall but in other districts, like Boston [Public Schools], facility usage is difficult.”

“So having uniform protocols for interscholastic competitions is paramount.”

While BPS plans to begin practices Jan. 4, densely populated districts such as Lynn have called off the winter season.

Across the state, ADs are doing everything in their power to provide athletics this winter, and student-athletes are also willing to sacrifice.

In order to get approval from the Lexington Board of Health, students created a proposal that would require every athlete playing basketball or ice hockey to decline hybrid enrollment and engage only in remote learning throughout the season.

Lexington AD Naomi Martin said she hasn’t heard any complaints from those student-athletes.

“This was sort of the only choice Lexington had in terms of offering sports,” said Martin.

“It’s a tough decision for families, and a completely imperfect solution in an imperfect world, but we wanted to give kids a choice. I think the kids and coaches are aware that every day we have the opportunity to play is a bonus.”

▪The MIAA’s Tournament Management Committee has reviewed an in-house power ratings proposal, developed by Globe correspondent Jim Clark, to determine seeding for statewide tournaments that will start in the fall of 2021. The TMC is currently aligned with MaxPreps, but ADs and coaches had expressed concerned for its lack of transparency. The pandemic pause has created an opportunity to review other options. A vote is expected in January . . . The TMC voted 15-0 to maintain the current divisional alignment for rugby and expand outdoor track from five to six divisions.

▪ Reading shut down its winter sports programs for two weeks due to a positive coronavirus case . . . Lynn English hired Esteban Paula as baseball coach . . . Chelmsford has named Mike Crowley as interim girls’ basketball coach.

▪ Annabelle Keaney (Methuen) and Zachary Massa (Durfee) were respectively selected as MIAA Student Athletes of the Month.

▪ Noble & Greenough offensive lineman Drew Kendall (Norwell), the top 2021 recruit in Massachusetts per ESPN, committed to Boston College, where his father, Pete, starred as an offensive lineman from 1992-95 before going on to a 13-year NFL career.

Basketball: Mohamud Ali, Latin Academy (Tufts); Matt Maguire, Abington (WPI); Jack Wirtanen, Catholic Memorial (St. Lawrence).

Field Hockey: Paige Gillette, Andover (Assumption).

Football: Will Lederman, Natick (Bentley); Tommy Leonard, Catholic Memorial (Union); Daniel Lopes Catholic Memorial/Cheshire Academy (Villanova); Erik Russell, BC High (Wake Forest); Josaiah Stewart, Everett (Coastal Carolina).

Lacrosse: Grady Smith, Pingree (Sacred Heart).

Soccer: Ashley Kendrigan, Andover (Stonehill).

Work at Boston Globe Media