Vallejo, Bethel allowed to work out
Both programs begin on Monday after VCUSD gives green light
They say that people who show up to a party after others are “fashionably late.”
If that’s the case, the Vallejo and Jesse Bethel high school football teams may have missed some of the appetizers but they’ll be around for part of the main course.
Both programs are expected to start conditioning on Monday after given clearance from the Vallejo City Unified School District. Most other schools in Solano County were conditioning in the fall and winter, but VCUSD had not given the green light until now. Actual practice with pads could begin about a week later.
The news came Friday just two days after a Times-Herald story was published about Mal Turner, a Bethel High football player who transferred to Napa High due to VCUSD’s inaction on sports.
Most of the other schools in the county began practice after a compromise with the State of California on Feb. 19 concerning contact sports. Many of the schools have their first game scheduled next week. American Canyon, a school in Napa County, played its first game last Friday, defeating Sonoma Valley, 42-6.
“We had kind of known for a little while that Monday might be that first day,” said Vallejo High football coach Mike Wilson III. “Right now we are having a coaching meeting to get all of the rules down.”
Most of the schools in California agreed on five-game schedules this spring after the fall slate was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Vallejo and Bethel, however, may only play two or three games.
One of those matchups will be
the Mayor’s Cup, the annual rivalry game between the two Vallejo schools. That contest is set for April 17 at Corbus Field.
“That will be the last game of the season,” Wilson said. “We also have a tentative game against Rodriguez for April 2.”
Rodriguez is part of the Monticello Empire League but one of the conference’s schools, Fairfield, does not have enough players to field a varsity team.
In a traditional year, Vallejo and Bethel are part of the Tri-County Athletic League but the schools’ principals voted no to move forward with a plan for sports earlier this year.
School district officials met over Zoom to discuss some of the safety measures and present information to parents. That can be seen at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=2apEVmB_ eus
That meeting was attended by Vallejo Principal Jarrod Bordi, Vallejo Vice Principal Shari Salinas, Bethel Principal Ramon Cuzi, Vallejo Athletic Director Josh Ramos and Bethel Athletic Director Jeff Turner, who is also the school’s football coach.
The meeting included a chart also highlighting March 15 as a tentative start date for other sports to condition like golf, tennis, cross country, track and field, swimming, baseball and softball. It included another group of sports like soccer, badminton, cheerleading, volleyball, basketball and wrestling tentatively slated to start on April 12.
Salinas talked about temperature checks, the verbal screening process and paper screening forms during the meeting. Turner talked about the expectation for players and Ramos spoke about the expectation for parents.
“At this time, parents cannot watch conditioning or practice sessions,” Ramos said during the meeting. “We are asking them to drop off and pick up (their students) so that we can keep our distance, start on time and end on time.” Cuzi said the district has received aver 600 survey forms from parents asking if their student wants to participate in sports for the rest of the school year. The survey forms can still be turned in to gauge interest in the remaining sports.
Wilson said he’s not sure how many players will show up on Monday. He has, however, heard from some of the seniors.
They’re excited that football is coming back,” he said. “They were hoping for a season, even if it’s just 1-2 games.”
VCUSD spokesperson Stephen Nichols did not comment by press time.