UW volleyball coach hopes Badgers can play in 2020
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield knows 2020 could be a memorable season for Wisconsin volleyball. Historic.
The first national title in program history.
What concerns Sheffield, preparing for his eighth season as UW’s head coach, is that his players may never see the court in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t have any confidence that we’re going to play,” said Sheffield, who led UW to a runner-up finish in 2013 and again last season. “But I have confidence in the people around us that are making the decisions.
“Our administrators and our health people and our strength coaches and our government officials.”
Sheffield and his staff welcome back the bulk of the team that won the Big Ten title with an 18-2 mark and reached the national title match before falling to Stanford to finish 27-7.
The returners include middle blocker Dana Rettke, the league’s player of the year; Sydney Hilley, the league’s setter of the year; and outside hitter Molly Haggerty, the MVP of the NCAA regional in Madison.
Add a recruiting class ranked No. 4 by VolleyballMag.com and PrepVolleyall Top 10 and it is easy to understand the excitement for the 2020 season.
Yet Sheffield, who has helped UW reach the Elite Eight or beyond in five of his seven seasons, is in the same helpless position as other fall sports coaches at UW and across the country, uncertain about the future.
“There are many days I sit there and say: ‘How in the world is this going to happen? How are sports going to happen? How is (school) going to happen?’ he pondered. “And then there are other days when you say: “We just might get this thing in.’”
The latest development didn’t instill confidence as the Big Ten announced last week all fall sports teams will play league schedules only in 2020 – if their respective seasons can be held.
“They’re bummed,” Sheffield said of having to break that news to his players. “These guys aren’t feeling at all that they are being forced to do anything.
“If you ask the athletes, overwhelmingly these guys would say: ‘Let’s go. Let’s do this.’”
Sheffield believes the volleyball season, which generally runs from late August through late December, could be moved to the second semester if necessary.
“I don’t care what it looks like, frankly,” he said. “I don’t care if we have fans or not. I don’t care if I’m allowed on the bench or not.
“I just want our kids to have a shot. Just go play. We’ll meet you at a playground. Just our team vs. your team.”
Sheffield, a native of Muncie, Indiana, is colorful and quotable with palpable energy and wit. He spoke passionately about how his players have handled the pandemic, racial unrest in Madison and the uncertainty about 2020.
“These are heavy conversations coaches are having with their players,” said Sheffield, who participated in a solidarity march last month in Madison.
“You’re sitting down and talking about race and the protests. You’re having to talk about the coronavirus and how they’ve got to manage that. You’re talking about the possibility of classes being canceled and seasons moving or being canceled and players sitting there wondering if their career is done, over.
“It is tough, but there is resilience. They want to do the right thing and (support) each other. They inspire the heck out of me.
“If I wasn’t looking at the news, reading newspapers and social media and it was just my group and talking to other coaches about their players, there is so much optimism about the future.”
Yet his tone changed when discussing the recent surge in coronavirus numbers in Wisconsin and many other states and how that trend could have been avoided by individuals following the advice of health care officials.
“This was a layup,” he said. “This was an underhand pitch of the entire country uniting. Like the time just after 9/11. … Everybody was eating apple pie and enjoying it. We were all together.
“This is the same type of deal. We could be lifting each other up and doing what we’re being asked to do. Instead we’re going rogue.
“We all think the first part of 2020 has been really bad. Well, if we don’t get this thing figured out, the second part is going to be way, way worse.
“And you’re just all hoping we can figure this thing out and put a lasso around all of us and get united. If that happens, then I think there is a lot more optimism whether it is having a season or going to school or going to a movie theater.
“Those things can all be a lot closer to reality, if we’re all willing to get on the same page and make the sacrifices that are necessary right now.”