Most but not all big schools hit field
Surrounded by Fort Bend ISD, Houston ISD and even Spring Branch ISD, it’s difficult for Alief ISD’s high school football programs not to notice everyone else starting fall practice this week.
Alief ISD started the academic year online and is phasing in extracurricular activities later than most. Elsik, Alief Taylor and Hastings are thought to be the only Houston-area schools still awaiting a start date for practice. They know it inches closer, though.
“(Tuesday) was just a breath of fresh air just to say, ‘Hey guys, I can’t give you an exact date, but soon,” first-year Hastings coach Tomas De La Rosa said Tuesday,
describing the message to players via Zoom. “Not far, but soon.”
A little more waiting may not be too much of a bother. Class 6A and 5A teams watched 4A and smaller programs start fall practice and the regular season a month earlier. The Class A-4A group start Week 3 of the regular season on Thursday. Most 6A and 5A teams started fall practice Monday. Week 1 for the 6A-5A group starts Sept. 24.
The University Interscholastic League split the start of football season amongst the classifications with the idea to slow-play teams into a contact sport in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And indeed, it’s a slow crawl toward anything resembling fall camp for many 6A and 5A teams this week, much like it was for the 4A and smaller schools.
Montgomery senior receiver Tre Harden said Monday’s practice didn’t feel much different considering the circumstances, but “it had just been a while since we put helmets on. Just getting back to using the helmet. That was it.”
Hightower in Fort Bend ISD is lifting weights in the mornings and taking part in skill work in the afternoons this week — an extension of summer strength and conditioning camp essentially. The UIL requires teams that missed in-person summer strength and conditioning camps because of the pandemic to use this week to play catch up in that regard.
Fort Bend ISD just greenlit Monday as the first day of fall camp for teams last week.
Second-year Hightower coach Joseph Sam said players are rounding into shape and having to get used to being around each other again. The Hurricanes will catch up soon enough.
“The good news is I feel like we may peak at a later date,” Sam said. “You know, some teams peak too early. I think we probably won’t until our district (play) comes around.”
District play for Hightower will be indicative of the pandemic’s impact on the sport. District 10-5A Division I is using zone play to try to protect the league’s teams from COVID-19-related cancellations or postponements. The method splits teams in the same league into two zones. Not every team plays each other. The top three teams in each zone move to play-in games to determine postseason spots. Those play-in dates could be used for makeup games.
Hightower shares District 10-5A Division I with HISD teams Wisdom and Milby. HISD, which started school Tuesday, is spending the year’s first six weeks online. The football schedule for HISD’s 24 schools was uncertain earlier this summer with interim superintendent Grenita Lathan stating extracurricular activities wouldn’t be allowed during the online learning period, but that policy was changed to allow teams to practice as soon as classes began.
HISD teams started just in time Tuesday, though, with kickoff set for the Oct. 1 weekend. It’s a coup for District 11-4A Division I, an allHISD league of eight teams that are a month behind their state counterparts but employing its own version of zone play to catch up.
Instead of practicing on Tuesday, Hastings coaches were trying to configure a locker setup that allows social distancing.
As it stands, Hastings opens the season against District 23-6A foe Dawson on Oct. 9. De La Rosa said District 23-6A teams opted to move league play up in the schedule to protect itself against cancellations and changes. There was a nondistrict game against Cypress Falls planned, but like many things this offseason that was changed.
Until Hastings gets a start date, it’s confined to virtual meetings with eager players, who have been working out on their own. The team has new uniforms players have only seen virtually, too. Hastings defensive coordinator Shea Rodriguez says players have handled the waiting well, knowing it’s easy for them to see other districts starting via social media.
“When the kids see one district is working, you get a text message saying, ‘hey, coach, why haven’t we started yet? When are we going to start?’ ” Rodriguez said. “It’s just keeping them positive. I think everybody is starting to get on and us being the last district, hopefully something starts to happen.”