The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Beachwood teams adapt after late start
Everyone has felt some semblance of being antsy during the last several months amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
That sense has been particularly noted at Beachwood, which has had its share of hurdles — and not just the type laid out during the spring for its vaunted track and field teams.
Each in their own way, the Bison’s football, boys soccer and girls soccer teams have been dealt a more challenging hand this fall because of how much later their respective seasons began as opposed to their neighbors and conference and area rivals.
The district, erring on the side of caution, elected to not return to practice or competition until Aug. 26, and in-person learning wasn’t projected to begin until Sept. 21.
The boys soccer side, following its district’s return to competition guidelines, did not log a regular-season match until Sept. 9.
The girls soccer side didn’t hit the pitch for a match until Sept. 14.
The football team didn’t see the gridiron until Week 3 on Sept. 11.
Coaches and student-athletes a like, they have a ll learned how to adapt during a fall season unlike any other.
“It’s been very difficult,” Beachwood boys soccer coach Brian Greene said.
“It’s been really hard, because most of the schools were practicing, even though they weren’t playing, and we weren’t allowed to start practicing until Aug. 26. We’re three, four weeks behind everybody. Maybe it’ll help us in the tournament later on.
“But right now, we’re playing catchup and getting guys fit to play a full 80 minutes. Because the only way you get fit playing soccer is to play soccer. You can do all the running you want. But if you’re not playing, you’re not fit. So losing those scrimmages and those early games, it was hard. But the guys responded.”
The Bison’s boys soccer side commendably finished the regular season 6-5-2 against a daunting schedule, featuring a six-match unbeaten run bridging September and October.
Finding match fitness took time and improvisation.
“We obviously started late compared to other teams,” Beachwood central midfielder Alex Park said. “So some of the boys, we would get up early in the morning and have one practice in the morning and one official practice in the afternoon. So we would have two-a-days to get fit and try to get the rust off. Coaching-wise, we practiced a lot on passing the ball, because our touches were off. So we just had to get the rust off.”
For Bison girls soccer coach Dana Raponi and her side, it wasn’t just match-fitness rust. It was getting acclimated to one another. Raponi took over as Beachwood’s leader on the touchline this fall, suc
ceeding Jonathan Kostoff, who is now over at Kenston.
The Bison were able to get in 11 regular-season matches, but it was easier said than done.
“It’s absolutely terrible, because you’re playing too many games back to back,” Raponi said. “So we’ve got too many games and we have a lot of injuries and our depth is just not there more. And then, you don’t really have a chance to teach because it’s always just play, play, play, play, play. Good and bad, but when you have a young team and a new coach, you want to be able to have time to teach.
“That, and not being able to get that fitness level up that whole month of August, it’s detrimental. But hey, we’re all going through it some way. There’s growing pains, but still, I am very proud of them, and they’re still pulling together and doing the best they can.”
Beachwood standout junior striker Sydney Sarver could tell how evident the lack of match fitness was early.
“Since we had a lot off in the summer, the first couple games were rough,” Sarver said. “Everyone was tired. It was a long 80 minutes. And now, we have a few subs.
“COVID has affected everything a lot, but we’ve grown a lot since the beginning of the season, and fitness levels have gone up.”
The laudability level of the perseverance and character shown by Coach Damion Creel’s football team has gone up by the week, as the Bison are still in the playoff hunt.
Beachwood is 6-0 heading into a Division V, Region 17 quarterfinal Oct. 24 at South Range.
“It shows that we fight
through anything,” quarterback Jalen Minter said. “At the end of the day, it’s who wants it more. It all comes down to the helmet and those shoulder pads and what you’re going to do on that field.”
Before this fall, the Bison hadn’t registered an unbeaten regular season or a playoff win — and that was before a pandemic struck.
Both those objectives, under the most trying of circumstances, have been achieved, including D-IV playoff victories the last two weeks over Grand Valley and Warrensville Heights.
“I’m speechless,” Creel said. “Just like I’ve told the team, we’ve been through so much. And every week, they just surprise me with how hard they play, how together they’re becoming. When we started off, we weren’t together as a football team. And each week, you can see us getting better and better as a football team.
“And it’s more than football. We want these guys to be great husbands one day, great fathers one day, and just learn how to do those things through playing the game of football with the discipline and the character that comes with it. So I am just proud of how resilient they are. I’m proud of just how they’re sticking together and how they’re doing everything we ask them to do as players.”
Including navigating a pandemic and, commendably, clearing every hurdle in their path.
“They’re a good group of guys,” Greene said of his boys soccer side. “They believe in each other. We’ve hung in there with very good teams.
“The boys are giving me a lot of heart and desire. So I am very happy with them.”