TAKING ON CHALLENGES
Coaches focused on support, positivity during latest stoppage
Six girls basketball programs in Oakland County were left stunned and saddened when the Michigan High School Athletic Association put a stop to their postseason on March 12.
Just hours from competing in a regional championship their seasons were stopped, and eventually ended, in the blink of an eye.
For returning players that sadness turned to motivation as they looked toward the 2020-21 season. Through the challenges of COVID-19, they trained on their own to be ready for the start of the new season.
Smiles were all around when they began practice on Nov. 9 and got a taste of normalcy again. However, it would be shortlived as the MHSAA was forced to halt the start of the season on Nov. 15 due to an epidemic order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Once again, the girls basketball players around the state are left feeling stunned and saddened.
“You’re not just battling basketball anymore. You’re battling mental challenges and emotional challenges that will be with these kids for the rest of their lives,” Walled Lake Western coach Steve Emert said. “As their coach, I am more concerned about that than wins and losses. We try to prepare these kids to be able to overcome adversity so they can enjoy their life, and I think that is more important than ever right now.”
Keeping their kids positive and uplifted is the challenge for all high school coaches right now.
Originally scheduled to resume practices on Dec. 9 following the original three-week epidemic order, teams will now be waiting an indefinite amount of time.
The order was extended until Dec. 20. The MHSAA hasn’t released a timeline for the resumption of winter sports and the completion of fall postseasons in football, volleyball and girls swimming & diving.
“We were certainly disappointed with the recent news, extending this stoppage for at least 12 days. I liked the plan that the MHSAA laid out. That would have given the fall sports the finality that, I think, is needed. It would have also given us three weeks to prepare for January,” Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes coach Steve Robak said. “That sounded reasonable to me. I am not sure now what is going to happen.”
The day it all changed
March 12, 2020 is a day that many prep athletes will never forget.
For girls basketball, players from Birmingham Marian, Walled Lake Western, St. Catherine Academy, Royal Oak Shrine, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest and Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes were gearing up for a regional championship game.
That afternoon, the MHSAA would put a stop to all prep sports due to the surge in COVID-19 cases within the state.
Originally, most teams held out hope that the postseason would resume, but it would ultimately be canceled entirely weeks later.
“It was very difficult. It’s something I know those girls will remember for the rest of their lives,” Emert said. “We made up shirts that said 1/16th champions on them, but I know not being able to finish the tournament is something that will be with them the rest of their lives. They will always wonder what might have happened.”
Western’s squad had eight seniors on the roster last winter, none of which foresaw that they wouldn’t step on the court together again on March 11.
Offseason hurdles
The difficulties of how the 2019-20 season ended didn’t stop in the offseason.
Organized team activities and indoor practices weren’t allowed for most of the summer. Preparing for the 2020-21 season became about individuals’ drive to workout at home and stay motivated.
“I think we got together three times at an outdoor court, because that was really the only opportunity we had based on the safety regulations,” Robak said.
As the fall rolled around, the MHSAA was given clearance for prep sports to resume, providing some hope to those winter athletes. Most of the fall sports were able to complete their seasons before the Nov. 15 stoppage.
“I was always pretty positive that we would get it figured out and have a season after watching the fall sports have their seasons and do it pretty safely,” Marian coach Mary Cicerone said. “Now, I think we will still have some kind of a season, but it seems like it could be a shortened one. I am still just trying to stay positive.”
Programs like Marian and Royal Oak Shrine both still have volleyball teams alive in their respective postseason tournaments. Those athletes hope to have a chance to compete for a state championship.
Waterford Our Lady has a number of volleyball players on the basketball team as well. The Lakers volleyball team was forced to forfeit their district championship match against Auburn Hills Oakland Christian when the team had to quarantine due to the virus.
“It has to be extremely disappointing. They had basketball last winter, didn’t get
a spring, and then had their volleyball season ended because of it. Now, their next basketball season hasn’t been able to get started,” Robak said. “I am sure the girls are struggling a lot.”
Mental challenges
Keeping their players in shape physically is hard enough without any inperson contact, but most coaches are focusing on the mental health of their players during this time.
“The effects of what is going on with COVID, are so much more massive than just COVID. I think a lot of that is being missed,” Robak said.
Emert had to be the one to break the news of the season being halted to one of his players and he could see the mental anguish take over in her facial reaction.
“I had one of my captains on the phone on FaceTime and she hadn’t heard the news yet. I had to be the one to tell her and you could see how deflated she got,” he said. “I think the girls all got their hopes up because the fall went through their season. It just really took the wind right out of these girls.”
The impact of the last 10 months has changed the perspective of the veteran Walled Lake Western coach.
“I think what this has taught me as a coach, and probably the players too, is that we will have to attack each day together like it could be our last. I don’t just mean each game, I mean each practice too,” Emert said. “We need to put more emphasis on the group and the family we have as a team. These are memories we create together and we should cherish those times together.”
What will 2021 look like?
The biggest question for basketball teams right now is, what’s next?
While Dec. 21 is the earliest practices can resume, there is no guarantee that the epidemic order won’t be extended beyond that date.
With time ticking on the winter season, some coaches have a different feel for how much time they’d like to have to prepare for game action.
Marian and Waterford Our Lady both return a majority of their rosters from last season and both feel they can pick things up quickly.
“I am at the point where it’s always good to be prepared, but most of these kids have played at the varsity level and know what to expect,” Cicerone said. “Given the circumstances, I’d like to get things going quickly. We all will be in the same boat where we won’t be very organized and not in the best shape, so let’s take a few days and then get going.”
For Emert, losing eight seniors means a lot of new working pieces and a lot of needed practice time.
“I think we need at least two to three weeks,” Emert said for preparation time. “We had just six days before things stopped and those six days were our first time in the gym. Hopefully, the girls are doing things to prepare themselves physically, but the mental aspects of the game is where I am concerned.”
Schedules are sure to be altered and the postseason tournament could be pushed later in March, or even April.
With so many unknowns, Robak is focusing on what his team can control.
“Our message to the girls has been that the better shape they are in during this time, the better advantage we are likely to have once play starts,” he said. “Conditioning is going to be everything to start the season, especially with the masks on. We practiced with those for
a week before the stoppage and running with a mask on is not simple. Conditioning will be a big factor.”
The look of a game could be much different as well, as spectators may not be allowed once play resumes.
“Certainly you want to play in front of a full crowd, but playing in an empty gym is better than not playing at all,” Robak said. “I just hope this season, once it starts, has a finish to it. I want us to win or lose on the court to finish the season.”
Common message
Though there is plenty of debate about COVID-19 and what direction is best, all the coaches agree that getting the kids back on the court is the ultimate goal.
“At this point, I’d just like to have the girls get back together,” Emert said. “If we get some games from that, that’s great. Even though we knew this was possible, you never really know how to prepare them for everything to come to a complete stop. Sometimes as coaches we focus so much on the X’s and O’s that we forget about the true relationships between the kids. I think that is what has really affected me during this more than anything else.”
While competing for championships is always a focus for teams, a return to some normalcy for all prep athletes is what’s important to the coaches.
“I don’t think we can worry too much about wins and losses this year,” Cicerone said. “Let’s just get the kids on the floor and play. Being together as a team and working together is important for kids and that’s what I really want for them right now. We all like to win, and I definitely like to win, but I just want them on the floor having fun right now.”