Fall Sports Season Up in the Air as COVID-19 Spreads

By: Brandon Teela and Vincent Aldridge

As COVID-19 continues to affect the lives of everyone around the world the impact is also very prevalent to our student athletes and coaches on Redwood campus.

In April of 2020, CIF cancelled all spring sports championships effectively ending the spring season for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. As this happens fall sports will continue to be on the lookout for more news that may come.

As school continues to get pushed back, all sports are not able to hold practices or spring conditioning. Many fall sports begin as early as March with the hopes of having around 6 months of preparation for the season. And many winter sport teams begin preparing after Spring Break for Summer Leagues.

Teams have so many plans regarding fundraising, getting physicals for all athletes, securing dates, scheduling tournaments, meeting with boosters, and more. With so many meetings and practices being put on hold, this is uncharted territory for almost all coaches, players, and athletic directors.

Coaches of all sports are sending at-home workout plans and conditioning patterns in hopes of keeping their players in shape and ready for whatever is necessary. Head Coach Kevin Scharton of the Rangers football team explains that they have organized workouts including agility and strength training through their Hudl program.

“Whatever cards are dealt, we will overcome and put forward our very best,” says Scharton.

As a coach and a competitor he is not worried as other teams are dealing with the same set backs and he explains that “as a coach I just take things one day at a time, and keeping things as simple as possible.”

Many other fall sport athletes state that because of this virus it all comes down to accountability. Tennis player Elizabeth Gormley, ’21, explains that she continues her workouts through the pandemic because, “I stay motivated because this is my last year with the team, and I want to make it my best.”

Other athletes such as Amanda Dominguez, ’21, and William Hernandez, ’21, emphasize getting better at home through coaches workouts and their own discipline.

“Around this time last year, we were already in motion to start the next season, but we know when we come back we will just have to work that much harder as a team to get to where we want to be,” said Hernandez.

Dominick McCormack, ’21, explains that once teams get back into practice they essentially have no time to waste saying that, “we have to take everything seriously to get back the time we lost.”

As the crisis of COVID-19 continues to unravel around the country not much of what is happening has been explored. Teachers, coaches, administrators, and students are adjusting and learning how to deal with a crisis like this one day at a time.

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