Coaches’ learning curve
High school coaches, administrators continue to learn and adapt to unpredictable fall season
With numerous schools temporarily closing sporadically in reaction to COVID-19 infections, high school coaches and administrators across the state have to navigate a difficult, unpredictable and ever-changing fall season, for which there is no playbook as the pandemic persists.
Southington girls soccer coach Michael Linehan is thankful that his team is playing this fall. There were times this past summer where he’d tell his wife that he didn’t think that would happen.
His Blue Knights are more than a quarter of the way through their 12-game regular season, just two weeks in. Class LL finalists a year ago, they are 4-0 and have outscored opponents, 19-0. Winning has looked easy.
But “easy” is not the word Linehan would choose to describe the start to his season.
“I worry every day that I’m going to get a phone call,” Linehan said. “‘Hey Coach, I’ve got a 102-degree temperature.’ I worry about whoever I’m playing, and I get a call from their AD, ‘Oh by the way, we had a player who had a high fever and nowhas tested positive for COVID.’ You can’t control everything.”
Like coaches and administrators across the state, Linehan has had to navigate a difficult, unpredict
able and ever-changing season for which there is no playbook.
Southington held its Senior Night — an event which often occurs at the team’s last regular-season home game — on Friday, before its fourth game. Players and coaches are required to wear masks while on the sideline, and teams don’t shake hands after each game. He’s even had to reconsider how he runs his practices.
On top of that, Southington is one of a handful of area high schools that have closed after positive COVID-19 results. The school closed twice in September, and Linehan’s team has been directly affected.
Linehan said he had five or six players forced to quarantine due to potential COVID-19 exposure in school. His team had to miss four days of practice after a positive case in the school on Sept. 21, which then resulted in the entire school temporarily switching to remote learning.
The closure and quarantines left Linehan wondering how to run his practices. If he continues to keep players in separate groups by position, his entire back line could be forced to quarantine. But if an asymptomatic player practices with the entire team and spreads the virus, he could risk getting the entire team sick.
“I’m trying to mitigate the risk in the case that in some point in time, someone gets sick,” said Linehan. “At the end of the day, I’m all about ensuring that they’re safe. This is a learning opportunity as well, learning about how to deal with a situation like this.”
Enfield High was closed Sept. 24-25 due to a positive COVID19 case. Because it was before the start of the season, none of Enfield’s teams were forced to miss games. Enfield Athletic Director Cory O’Connell credited his coaches for keeping their teams engaged while remote.
“It definitely throws a wrinkle,” O’Connell said. “They were just getting into it, and they had the rug pulled out again. ... One thing we’ve learned through all of this is that these virtual meetings are great. Just constant communication, keeping them focused. Back in the day when there was a snow day or something, you wouldn’t have track of your kids for a couple of days. Now it’s, ‘Hey, no practice today, but hey whatever. I’ll see you at 2 o’clock, and we’ll go over some stuff.’”
Windsor High closed at the end of September due to a positive COVID-19 case, though the Warriors didn’t have to miss any games because of it. Athletic director Chris Fulton said the closure didn’t create too many problems for him and his staff. He’s taken a one-day-at-a-time approach to the season, and hopes to get as much of the season in as possible.
“The way I approach it is, I can only control the things that I can control,” he said. “The pandemic, shutting the school down, you have to look at it from an optimistic point of view: They’re doing what’s in the best interest of me and the kids and the community. We get as much as we can in in the meantime. ... If we get these games in, it’s such a plus. Because it could easily be like the spring, where we’re not doing anything, and that was horrible.”
School closures are reminders for administrators that a new challenge can present itself every day. Granby High has not yet had to close due to the coronavirus this school year, though athletic director Brian Maltese said he and the rest of his staff need to remain prepared for whatever could come the school’s way.
“Every morning you’ve got to get up and see if there’s a report or something locally that could affect everybody,” said Maltese. “One of the things we try and tell the athletes and the coaches is to control the controllables. You can’t control what other people are doing, what other towns or districts are doing, whois remote learning. You can only control what you can control.”
Maltese said that most, if not all, of Granby’s student athletes are still learning in-person. Linehan said that many of his players have opted to learn remotely for the rest of 2020.
“In a short season, 14 days [of quarantine] could be a third of the season,” Linehan said. “They’re saying to me, ‘I don’t want to be in quarantine. I was just in the lunch room. I don’t even know this person [who tested positive].’ They say, ‘I want to protect myself so I can participate.’”
O’Connell said his coaches have done a good job of preparing for individual scenarios, as opposed to reacting when they happen. Fulton said he and his staff have gotten creative in terms of livestreaming games for friends and family that aren’t allowed into events. Maltese said his players and coaches have been resilient, and ready to embrace any change thrown their way.
“It’s been a learning curve for everybody,” said O’Connell. “We’re trying to keep people safe, and we’re trying to get the whole season in.”