‘It was devastating’
Players, coaches voice their frustration about a fall without football, but some understand the decision
Ocean Lakes senior Myles Alston knows the Dolphins’ football team is loaded and has a shot at winning a state title.
He also knows he won’t be there to be a part of it.
While the Virginia High School League didn’t make a decision on restarting the high school sports seasons, one thing was perfectly clear: The state will have a fall without high school football.
With the sport being considered a high-contact risk, the VHSL recommended moving it to the spring or not having at it at all during its Executive Committee meeting Wednesday. The soonest football could start, according to the VHSL’s three proposals, would be Feb. 15 with the first games on March 1.
That’s too late for Alston, who is enrolling early at Pittsburgh.
“It was devastating. It hurt that we’re not going to have a senior season,” Alston said. “I’m just trying to stay positive and focus on the future. I’m still working out and will continue to work out with my teammates. I’m just getting ready for Pittsburgh.”
As word of the VHSL’s plans spread through social media and websites, players and coaches had a range of emotions.
“It’s disappointing and frustrating, but I’m not surprised,” Ocean Lakes coach Joe Jones said. “Three months ago, I was optimistic about it, but as time kept getting closer and closer to it, it was getting bleaker and bleaker to do anything in the fall. It doesn’t look like school is even going to start like it should in the fall. It may start, but it’s going to be revised schedules. I know if we’re not back to school with all of our students full-time that we’re not going to play football.”
VHSL Executive Committee chairwoman and York High principal Shannon Butler has a son who’s a rising senior and plays football. Her father, Bob Schmidt,
coached football at Bayside, York, Denbigh and Woodside. She’s disappointed to see a fall without football, but the VHSL’s hands were tied.
“There is nothing I’d like more than to see (my son) playing football on Friday night,” Butler said. “But the way things were set out, we can’t play high-risk sports in Phase 3.”
Lafayette coach Andy Linn believes it was “a sad day for football.”
“It’s extremely tough to hear,” Linn said. “As coaches, we’re going to miss it, but we’re going to coach many more games. But for the seniors, it’s not a good thing. I just hope that they give us something, whether it be in the winter or the spring or whenever.”
Michael Green, a linebacker at Lafayette, just wants to get back on the field.
“We’re already pushed back a while, so if I have a (senior) season, that would be great,” Green said. “I just don’t want to get pushed back to (spring) and then end up not being able to play.
“As long as I have a season, no matter how long it takes, I’m fine with that. If spring comes and we didn’t have a season, that would be upsetting.”
Green, who has committed to play for Virginia, wants to make sure his teammates who won’t play at the next level get a final season.
“It’s especially unfair for the seniors who play football in high school, but maybe not at the next level,” Green said. “I’m trying to look out for all the other seniors who’ve been putting in the hard work for their senior seasons.”
Maury quarterback Eric Gibson was stunned by the decision, but like Green, he just wants to play.
“When I first heard about it, I was shocked because I really wanted to have a season this year,” Gibson said. “It would be an opportunity that I just wouldn’t be able to have.”
Cox defensive back Nate Evans remained optimistic and looked forward to the start of the season.
“When I heard it, I just knew I had keep grinding and get ready for college,” Evans said. “It’s going to be difficult, but hopefully there will be a season.”
Phoebus head coach Jeremy Blunt knew this would likely happen and realized this is “the new normal.”
“We all saw the writing on the wall about no football this season,” Blunt said. “These options at least give us hope for a season and give the seniors an option rather than no option at all. … This gives these kids something to look forward to rather than nothing at all.
“They call this ‘the new normal’ and it’s really our new reality,” he added. “With this reality, we have to be willing to make adjustments. From a coaching standpoint, making adjustments is what we do.”