Chris Daugherty didn’t know at first.
School buildings were slammed shut. The state girls’ basketball championships were halted in the middle of the bracket, and the boys’ tourney did not take place. Spring sports? Call it an “asterisk season,” unfortunately.
But football. What about football? Really, how?
“We’re doing our best to social distance while doing the drills we do in practice, and once the kids got used to it, they started policing it because they know the consequences,” Daugherty said. “And all of the coaches have been masked up while we are with the kids.
“We’re doing things now that we don’t have to even mention to the players because they’re used to the masks and the distancing and things like that,” he said. “If you think about it, we’ve been dealing with this stuff since March, and it’s now September. Plus, a couple of coaches and a player testing positive brought it home for a lot of the guys, too. That made a difference. It became real.”
A Plan Is In Place
The administration of Ohio County Schools has worked with state officials to ensure as much safety as possible during permitted summer-conditioning programs, and now regular practice for all fall sports teams.
Thus far, the county-code system adopted by the state Department of Health and Human Resources displays one “red” county and three “orange” counties. W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice said Monday all athletes and staff in the “orange” counties would be tested this week to determine if they can compete. All counties in the Northern Panhandle have been listed as “green,” and that means athletic teams and extracurricular activities can proceed as scheduled.
“It takes a lot of people following direction, and I will say this, our kids and our coaches are the ones pulling this off,” Daugherty explained. “A plan is only good as the paper it’s written on because it takes people to follow that plan for it either to succeed or fail, and our people are following the plan. I have a group of kids who realize what is at stake, and it’s football that’s at stake.
“We have had to go about things differently, but our coaches and our players understand those things, and that has made it a lot easier,” he said. “We’re not just back to football like it used to be. It’s different now, and that’s why I am blessed for my staff and my kids because they get it, and they are doing what needs to be done.”
But It’s Still Football
The players will be masked during transportation. Distancing will take place on the school buses, too.
The return trip from away games will feature boxed lunches instead of an indoor dining experience, and the sideline will look different, too. But there’s the game to consider, too.
“You can’t play the game of football and have social distancing, and I’m not going to lie; in the very beginning of this I was worried,” Daugherty admitted. “We didn’t know if we would be exposed by walking into the grocery store or anywhere else, but as time has gone on, I have a different feeling about being outdoors. I feel good that we’re not going to pass this thing back and forth between teams.
“If we have an increase in cases, I believe it will take place outside of the football field,” the head coach added. “And if we take care of the locker rooms the way we should, I don’t think that would be the reason. If we have more cases, I think that’s because our guys are doing what they are doing away from school.”
