48 teams in for unofficial state tourney
Senior soccer players get one last chance to compete
In March, as school systems shut down because of COVID-19, Gatlinburgpittman's Zach Schrandt started contacting other soccer coaches across the state.
Schrandt, who is a board member on the Tennessee High School Soccer Coaches Association, thought the rest of the season was at risk to be canceled. So the coaches talked about putting together a tournament at some point in the summer.
Next month the THSSCA 2020 State Championships presented by The High School Cup will take place at Rocky Top Sports World in Gatlinburg.
The public school tournament is scheduled for July 9-11 and the private school tournament is July 13-15. Each team will be allowed to bring 50 fans to each game. There also will be markers to indicate social distancing.
The tournaments are split up into the same classifications as the TSSAA. Each public school bracket has eight teams. Each team will play three games as the tournament has a winners bracket and losers bracket.
Forty-eight teams are planning to participate, Schrandt said.
"I think we're all pleasantly surprised at the amount of participation," Schrandt said. "I think it's going to be a fun three days."
The tournament gives seniors who graduated this year, but whose season was ended prematurely, one more chance to play.
“Obviously it's not an official state championship. You can call it what you want to call it, but it gives guys the opportunity to go out on their own terms,” said Smyrna coach Bryan Grogan. “They know they have three games. They know it's something that was not pulled out beneath them. They know what's ahead of them and the opportunity to compete against the elite teams of the
state.”
The teams are registered as independent teams because TSSAA bylaws state graduating seniors can't participate in tournaments while still being affiliated with the school, said TSSAA assistant executive director Mark Reeves, who helped advise the THSSCAD.
Teams can't wear any uniforms that are affiliated with the school. Last season's Class AAA state champion, Bearden, has registered as Bulldogs FC.
They have 18 players on the team, including the eight seniors who've graduated. The players had been looking forward to defending last season's state championship. Bulldogs FC has been holding practices four days a week for the last few weeks. Bearden's coach, Ryan Radcliffe, will not coach the team. But he will be watching from the stands
“You're sad to see that they were this motivated for something like this because it shows how motivated they were for the season,” Radcliffe said. “It's not going to be the same but it matters, and I told them the most important thing is to have fun.”