The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
ADs expect more fall COVID restrictions
Delta variant risks mean adapting to change again
Denny Williams couldn’t have asked for a tougher first year.
In July 2020, Williams was promoted to St. Xavier’s full-time athletic director after longtime athletic director Alan Donhoff retired. Unfortunately for Williams, Donhoff left more than just the keys to the office.
Waiting for Williams were postponements, cancellations and a myriad of problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
And like all athletic directors in the area, and around the country, Williams was forced to adapt on the fly to the challenges the virus brought. Over time, things got easier. Games were played, masks came off and it looked like the stressors were a thing of the past. At least that’s what people thought. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that everyone in K-12 schools including staff, students and visitors should wear masks indoors whether they are vaccinated or not.
And while the CDC’s announcement doesn’t predict the end of the world, it does foreshadow the return of the obstacles that Williams and the area’s athletic directors thought they had cleared.
“If we’ve learned anything from the past year-and-a-half, it’s that we have to adapt and change on an instant,” Williams said over the phone. “Discussions have been made about what could potentially be coming this winter, which is the new delta variant. If it comes through just like the pandemic did, I expect us to be in the same boat we were last fall.”
During the KHSAA’s nine-week football regular season from Sept. 11-Nov. 6, 231 out of 967 games were canceled (23.8 %). At one point, Williams had to find two replacements in the same week just so the Tigers could suit up on gameday.
Things aren’t looking football’s way heading into the fall. On Wednesday alone, 1,600 new cases were reported in Kentucky. If preparations aren’t made, the virus could have a similar effect on the season.
“There’s going to be restrictions, there’s going to be cancellations, and unfortunately sometimes you just have to deal with those day-to-day rather than trying to plan out ahead.”
Williams said that heading into the season, one of his highest priorities was to get a gauge on how many people in the community were vaccinated. He said a survey was sent out last Thursday and hopes the results come back as soon as possible. For now, the plan is to “go back to regular life and be at 100% this fall.”
Adaptation was not easy for Williams or the players affected by last year’s interruptions and cancellations. He feels for students who had games, dances, birthday parties and all the fun things a high schooler is supposed to experience, stripped away.
“When we had cancellations and we had to move games, you know, it just takes a lot out of the kids because all they really want to do is play,” Williams said.” And sometimes we can’t give them that goal, and sometimes I understand why. It just seems like we take more and more away rather than giving something to the kids back.”
Williams isn’t the only one who feels that way. Olivia Netzler-Gray, the athletic director at the St. Francis school, also coaches the hockey team, and she experienced first hand how challenging it can be to balance sports and social distancing.
“Initially we couldn’t have contact,” Netzler-Gray said. “They felt like the preparation was a lot harder. Just planning to practice, you had to be organized and efficient with your drills.”
On top of trying to manage a sports department and a hockey team, NetzlerGray also had to be on top of temperature checks, testing and other aspects of the pandemic world.
Amid the discomfort and frustration, however, came normalcy. It’s been nearly two years and high school athletes have seen it all. If masks, social distancing and other frustrating guidelines come back, Netzler-Gray believes people will take it in stride.
“I feel like our kids are incredibly positive,” Netzler-Gray said. “If we have to do it, I think everyone would understand because that’s the decision we have to make to keep everyone safe.”
As for Williams, who heads into year two at the helm of St. Xavier athletics, the potential test on the horizon isn’t a welcome one. But if 2020 taught him anything, it was that he can make it through.
“We’ve lived through it,” Williams said. “So I think we can handle it again.”