Demonettes’ coaches are going extra mile
Pandemic forces smaller groups, time for cleaning
While it hasn’t officially started, the end of the weird and wild 2020 prep volleyball season will come soon enough.
When it does, Josie Adams has Santa Fe High in position to be front and center when they shut off the lights and put the equipment back into storage. For proof, take a look at her timecard.
Both she and her assistants have spent more time in the gym this preseason than they have in any other, bar none. It makes for long, exhausting days but days, Adams said, are rewarding nonetheless.
Just recently the state eased health restrictions to allow groups of 10 to gather, a move that has made life a little easier inside Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium.
“That change has been really good for me because it’s easier to get the volume of girls that are trying out through the door,” Adams said.
The Demonettes have been able to squeeze 27 players and three coaches onto the floor during 90-minute blocks. That doesn’t include at least half an hour required for the coaching staff to clean and sanitize the gym and any exposed surfaces.
With roughly twice as many girls trying out, it means a normal two-hour
window for a routine practice has been twice as long – and that doesn’t include the incoming freshmen, who first reported to practice about a week ago.
“It’s twice as much work and twice as much time but we’re excited to do it and willing to do it because we have such a good group,” Adams said. “We want keep our program healthy and strong and we feel like we’re managing it.”
All athletes are required to wear masks in practices and, looking forward, during matches. The coaches are then charged with cleaning the equipment and ensuring there’s enough hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray to make any gym smell like a hospital.
“We wash hands at every water break and through sessions we wash the balls three to four balls,” Adams said. “The girls chase down their own balls. We don’t have managers or volunteers out there to help out like we normally would. It’s a challenge, for sure.”
In a sense, Adams said the positive upside is an improved work ethic and a healthier culture. The players know they have to practice safe measures not only for themselves but for everyone else on the team.
On Monday, the show begins. That’s when official team tryouts start, just five days before the Oct. 10 season opener. A truncated schedule culminates in a smaller eight-team state tournament two months down the road.
There is no time for slow starts or waiting for a team to gel. In that regard, there’s nothing to worry about at Santa Fe High.
It starts up front with returning vets like Isabella Melton, Laila Bernardino, Jorja Chambers, Sydney Pino-Pacheco, a quartet of hitters and blockers who form a solid group of frontrow players capable of going face to face with all the power programs up and down the 5A hierarchy.
Toss in the players in the back and the junior varsity players rising to the big club this fall, and it’s easy to see why Adams loves what she sees out of this year’s team.
That’s saying something considering there was no summer program, no extended volunteer workouts in the gym, no closed-quarters meetings to build chemistry between players and coaches. The veteran leadership right where she wants it, and the influx of new players is deep and talented.
“I think we should measure up,” Adams said. “On the record, we’re going to be right there.”
The Demonettes won a pair of matches in last year’s Class 5A state tournament and are expected be one of the top contenders again. Only a few players from last year’s team decided not to return, none of whom were considered strong impact players.
What remains is something special, something that has the potential to set the team on trajectory that could end in the final day of the 5A state tournament in December, assuming health guidelines don’t derail it all.
“This is a really dynamic team as far as culture and talent,” Adams said. “It’s a really tight, cohesive group with a ton of leadership. Our senior leadership is huge.”