By Ray Hamill — One day after being cleared for a restricted summer program, the Fortuna Huskies were back at practice on both the basketball court and football field on Wednesday morning.

And the return couldn’t come a moment too soon for a group of student athletes who have been largely shut down for the past four months.

“They’ve been antsy,” boys basketball coach Norm Sotomayor said. “They’ve been texting me all summer asking when can we do something. I’ve got kids biting at the bit.”

Notable restrictions were in place as the teams followed guidelines set out by the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) and the school.

On the basketball court, the players were divided into groups of a maximum of eight, with eight different basket hoops in the gym. Each group went through alternating drills for an hour, before giving way to the next group, and the players and coaches were enthusiastic about the return.

“Today was a great day,” Sotomayor said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to work with these student athletes.”

According to the coach, the players were more than happy to follow the guidelines for the opportunity to return.

“They got in there and they followed all of the guidelines,” he said. “They were really excited.”

Sotomayor, who took over as head coach of the varsity team this spring, had 45 players show up for the freshmen, JV and varsity workouts, while 42 more showed up for football.

Girls basketball and volleyball are each expected to resume in the coming days.

“What’s more important is the mental health of these kids,” Sotomayor added. “It’s really important for them to get back out there.”