Season starts with masks, uncertainty
They’ve been depressed, exhilarated, down, recharged. And now, as they enter the Arizona Interscholastic Association winter sports season, athletes and coaches are grateful, but, at the same time, bracing for the unexpected. Who’s going to have to cancel? Who’s going to get hit by COVID-19 next?
If the boys and girls basketball, soccer and wrestling teams followed what happened in the fall, especially with football, they’ll know that nothing is certain in these times, especially now with Arizona in the national spotlight for the surging pandemic.
“The ups and downs of our season has taken a toll on our team’s mental and emotional health,” Queen Creek Casteel wrestling coach Bob Callison said. “I can tell you in my 29 years of coaching, if I added the 28 years before this one, I would have less mental and emotional health issues.
“Our kids are depressed and beaten down with this on and off again school and athletics. Each day there is an uncertainty whether we are going to get to do what we love to do. After a while human nature kicks in and we start guarding our hearts against another heartache.”
That emotional peak and valley was hit the weekend of Jan. 8, when the AIA’s Executive Board voted 5-4 to cancel the winter season, then, four days
later, after a big backlash from the high school community, the board re-voted and this time it was 5-4 in favor of having a season.
This comes against the AIA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee’s recommendation to not start winter sports until the COVID-19 metrics were out of the red and into a better place like it was to start October, when football competition began.
With the metrics surging back in the wrong direction, the AIA made sure the football season didn’t stop until the last champion, Chandler, was crowned on Dec. 12.
Since then, COVID kept surging in Arizona, causing the AIA to push the winter sports season back twice.
But here it is, and players, coaches and referees are moving ahead with a mask mandate. All competitors must wear a mask while in competition.
“I’m just wanting to play,” Phoenix St. Mary’s junior basketball player Garrison Phelps said. “If they say, ‘Play in a mask,’ then I’ll play in a mask, as long as I get to play.”
This is big, especially for seniors who are hoping to gain scholarship offers through their play this year.
One of those is returning All-Arizona guard Keiren Brown, the leader of the St. Mary’s Knights basketball team.
“It’s been a frustrating time for sure,” Brown said. “Coach (Damin Lopez) has been doing a good job keeping us engaged, but the AIA has just been messing with us. It’s not right that other youth to college to professionals play and we’re the only ones that don’t.
“I’m glad they finally came to their senses because as a senior, this year is really big and crucial for me.”
Most competition will begin in earnest on Tuesday, from basketball to soccer to wrestling. Some schools districts are still waiting. Some have canceled, such as Superior, Apache Junction and Tolleson districts, and most of the Navajo Nation.
Most are playing. And most are thankful.
“Simply put, the athletes are ready to play,” Peoria Centennial girls soccer coach Marc Shrake said. “With no scrimmages or tournaments to gauge where we are at, it is difficult for the squad.
“The pandemic has unfortunately impacted our team with some families choosing to hold out their athletes from competition. We had to build a squad with those that remain and I am proud how they have developed.
“We are dealing with the restrictions and moving forward. The mask requirement for those actively engaged in competition is a struggle that all teams will face. This season is far from normal so making adjustments as the season progresses will become routine. The stress is no different than any other season, as we all strive to prepare our squads for what lies ahead. We are excited to have a season and are thankful to be playing at all.”
Some teams have already had to quarantine. Some are doing so now. Some are stressed that they eventually have to.
“The emotions have been overwhelming,” Gilbert Williams Field girls basketball coach Taura Gardner said. “The toughest challenge has been keeping kids motivated, especially the transfer students. The up and down feelings, and not knowing what’s coming next is very draining.”
She said it’s stressful trying to mange through quarantines and emotions of the student-athletes.
“How do I manage?” Gardner asked. “Lots of prayer, a great support system at home, amazing support from parents and staff, and the program motto, ‘Controlling the controllables.”
As the first match approaches, Callison, a Hall of Fame coach, said he feels like he aged 10 years since March.
“Make no bones about it, we are grateful to have matches this week,” he said. “That us against them feeling. Of us battling together for a common cause. We need that for these kids, coaches, parents, communities. It is the glue that sometimes holds us together.”
Peoria boys basketball coach Patrick Battillo said he would use the word “grateful” to summarize how he feels entering the season.
“Fortunate that we have an opportunity to do what we love, while developing these young student-athletes both on and off the court,” he said. “Fortunate while going through a pandemic we have an opportunity to create a bright spot in these student-athletes’ lives. Fortunate do we have a responsibility that is allowing us this opportunity for all of our student-athletes. And fortunate that we all have great health and the ability to do what we love.”
His one-day approach is to be grateful for each opportunity each day brings, and understand that “flexibility is the new normal,” as the teams get ready to navigate through the pandemic season.