By TIM GAYLE
Special to the Elmore/Autauga News
Both the Alabama High School Athletic Association and the Alabama Independent School Association have made the decision to start the football season on time during the coronavirus pandemic.
But can we finish the season?
“I think that is everybody’s fear,” Autauga Academy coach Bobby Carr said. “I’m glad we’re starting. But the way I’m looking at it, and people may disagree, is we’ve got to be cautious, safety’s got to come first, but life’s got to go on. You’ve got to put your head down and fight through this.
“We’re checking temperatures when guys walk in the door. If you’ve got a fever, you’ve got to go home. We haven’t had to send anybody home. If a kid is lifting at a bench, he wipes the bench down, the bar down and the next guy gets on it and does the same thing. We used to work with two groups and now we’ve broken it down into four groups. There are a few things we’ve had to adjust to, but other than that it’s business as usual.”
But while players are focused on safe practices, that won’t be the case when the rest of the student body assembles later this month for school. And any positive COVID-19 tests that require a 10-day shutdown can cause a ripple effect through either organization that triggers a rash of forfeits as teams are forced to quarantine.
“If we get to the point where they shut you down, I don’t know if they’re going to give you (a date in the future as the final day of competition),” Alabama Independent School Association executive director Michael McLendon said. “I don’t know what that looks like. It’s probably going to be a snowball effect like what you saw (in March).”
And because both McLendon and Alabama High School Athletic Association executive director Steve Savarese have planned scenarios based on the initial coronavirus wave, both organizations say they’re ready. But can anybody realistically plan what’s next when medical experts and politicians can’t unite in one organized direction?
“I think that when that societal pressure starts, it’s sort of like the mask ordinance where there were no masks, no masks, no masks and then there were masks,” McLendon said. “And now (the mask ordinance) has been extended. Will there be some point of societal pressure where school needs to be virtual? The societal pressure is definitely going to come into play at some point and maybe from both sides.”
McLendon’s point is well taken. Just as there are those who believe it’s ludicrous to assemble students in a school building or bring in a crowd for Friday night football where the participants are locked in close contact, there is another large faction that points out that very idea has existed all summer in travel baseball and softball tournaments throughout the country with no dire consequences.
Prattville coach Caleb Ross is trying to stay out of the fight. He’s one of that group of football coaches that believes you can only concern yourself with things you can control. The Lions have no control over the ability of their opponents, the AHSAA rules they must play under or the coronavirus. They can only prepare themselves to be the best possible team they can be.
“To me, it’s the only way to have peace of mind because if you worry about this, worry about that, you’ll drive yourself sick,” Ross said. “To me, the only way you do this is to go full speed ahead. You can’t go in testing the water halfway in, you won’t be successful at all. So we went all in, preparing. I’d hate to see it all taken away. I believe if can do it in a safe way, I think we should.
“But it’s all relative. People that have fear, they’re not wrong, either. And everyone’s situation is different and what they’ve experienced is different. I get it. Somebody may have an experience that is different. But if we can do this in a safe way, let’s go about it.”
Pike Road coach Patrick Browning pulled his team together for a pep talk in the middle of the summer and told them to be grateful for what they have and what they’ve been able to do in a summer that has watched unemployment and uncertainty grow with no clear-cut promise for success in the immediate coronavirus-filled future.
“If we didn’t play a season, what’s the worst thing that happened? Yeah, it’s bad that we’re not playing right now, but we got to go out after most of us have been cooped up in our homes for three months and we’ve got to lift weights, practice a little football and got to be around each other,” Browning said. “And that’s been a blast. I think we’ve had, in my opinion, one of the best summers we’ve ever had. I know there’s been protocols in place that we haven’t had to do in the past, but it’s fun practicing football.
“When COVID hit, I think the number one idea that came into people’s minds was not taking things for granted so much. It’s so easy to take things for granted and we didn’t have football – no weights, no speed and agility, no spring practice – and there are some states that still have not been able to do that.
“I think we’re blessed for the opportunity to be around our kids and other coaches. There’s a big part of me that really believes in the camaraderie and what that does for mental health. Mental health is a big factor right now. We really don’t know much about COVID, nobody does. So I don’t know what the season holds, I don’t know when we’re going to play, how long we’re going to play, but I think we should all take the attitude that we’re blessed to be able to do it now. Hopefully, we do have a full season and are able to go through the playoffs. You never know. We don’t know what’s going to happen. You just have to keep a positive attitude and whatever happens is meant to be.”
