It’s all about the ‘pivot’
As situation changes by the day amid pandemic, teams have to be flexible with their schedules
The plan for San Antonio Veterans Memorial’s football team was to run through a special teams workout during last Friday’s morning practice.
That changed at about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday when Patriots coach Richard Mendoza got a text message from boer ne champion coach Keith Kaiser asking if he was interested in playing a game Friday night.
Mendoza weighed through the pros and cons, and after getting approval from the school’s administration, it was on.
“Our kids have been working for over a month now,” Mendoza said. “You just don’t know when something is going to get quarantined.
You just don’t know, and when an opportunity toplay comes around, you want to get the game when you can because you don’t know what tomorrow brings.”
By 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Mendoza and Kaiser had traded film and their staffs began preparing for their season opener, set for 7 p.m. today at Boerne ISD Stadium.
That illustrates the slippery nature ofwhat it’s been like to plan for the 2020-21 high school sports season in Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our favorite word is ‘pivot,’ ” Northside ISD athletic director Stan Laing said. “Through this whole process things change, and we need to be able to pivot.”
That mindset is a must, especially this week with football season starting for UIL Class 6A and 5A and all TAPPS schools. Schools below Class 5A started playing four weeks ago.
Champion originally was going toplay at victoria west tonight. But several Victoria West players tested positive for COVID-19, and the game was canceled Wednesday morning.
The Chargers sought a late replacement instead of taking an open date. Veterans Memorial decided to take the game instead of not playing.
The Patriots and Chargers have met the two previous seasons. Mendoza said their familiarity with each other was one of the reasons why he decided to take the game. The other was the Patriots’ inexperience. Veterans Memorial is rebuilding after last year’s 9-3 season.
“The more time you have to get on the field to gain that experience is invaluable,” Mendoza said. “Thatwas the advantage. If you’re practicing, you are seeing the same plays, seeing the same guys, and there’s not that level of urgency.”
Last-minute scheduling changes around the state haven’t been unusual this year.
Clemens, which was going to have an open date today, will play at defending Class 6A Division II state champion Austin Westlake instead. Westlake canceled its previously scheduled game against Dallas Highland Park, which had a COVID-19 outbreak.
On Thursday, Harlandale ISD athletic director Rose Ann Martinez, in a letter to parents, announced the postponement of tonight’s volleyball match between Harlandale and Mccollum. The letter said aperson from Mccollum High School had tested positive for COVID-19 and that all individuals who had been in contact with that person were notified, leading to the postponement.
Volleyball season for UIL 6A/5A and TAPPS began last week. As larger school districts get involved with oncampus practices and competition, it leaves vulnerability to the virus’ spread.
“It’s not if, but when we do have a case here and there, we have to deal with it,” Laing said. “We follow proper control and quarantine those who need to be quarantined and continue to plan accordingly.”
Laing and North East ISD athletic director kelly Parker and their staffs have observed, in person, how smaller school districts have administered game-site safety protocols. They’ve found it useful as they prepare for their seasons.
“All the nuances of seeing it rather than just reading it make a big difference,” Laing said.
Parker said he and his staff saw a lot of effective measures that North East is implementing.
“A lot of the things that are in the protocol, everybody’s pretty much following them, and what we really learned is that it works,” Parker said. “As long as we can get everyone to understand the value and why we’re doing it, the protocols do work.”
Adhering to the safety protocols is a high priority for the UIL, which this week threatened to penalize schools that haven’t been wearing face masks or social distancing.
It’s a mindset that spectators must understand when they attend games.
“Is that our new normal? For now, it is,” Laing said. “The trade-off is we get to compete, and as long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to and everybody is being socially responsible, we look forward to having a full volleyball season, a full football season, and rolling into the seasons to come.”
Parker plans to have constant reminders through the public address systems at North East’s two football stadiums — Comalander and Heroes — about safety protocols. One of the things he saw with smaller schools was how easily fans put the protocols out of mind.
“We learned that no matter how hard you work and how much information you put out, the parents are glad to be there,” Parker said. “And as things move along, they kind of forget about spacing. But it doesn’t take much encouragement through an announcement to get them to do things they way they are supposed to.”
Not everybody is getting started this week.
Three area school districts — San Antonio ISD, South San and Edgewood ISD — haven’t begun practices. Those districts have cited the number of COVID-19 cases in their areas as reason for the delay. All three are expected to begin practices for football and volleyball Oct. 5.
Although the UIL set opening dates, each school district determines when students can begin extracurricular activities. With the Oct. 5 start date for practice and a three-week acclimation period, schools in those districts cannot start football competition earlier than Oct. 29.
Until Oct. 5, coaches can only implement workouts virtually. That presents huge challenges for Class 6A South San, where new coach Phil Barron hasn’t seen any of his players in person.
The 2002 South San graduate was hired in June to coach his alma mater after two seasons at Burbank.
“It hasn’t been easy by any stretch, but we’re able to see our kids online and put them through workouts,” Barron said. “We have to monitor them as best we can and try to hold them accountable as much as we can through this tough time.”
South San is scheduled to open at Smithson Valley on Oct. 30. The Bobcats are in District 27-6A, a league many consider to be the toughest in Region IV.
“It’s a short amount of time to have the kids completely 100 percent ready,” Barron said. “It’s virtually impossible tomake that happen, but we’re going to do the best we can to get the kids ready to perform on friday nights.”
The Bobcats are scheduled to play six games and will enter the season with a loss.
They were scheduled to play Judson on Oct. 23, but because that falls within their acclimation period, that game will be recorded as an 18-0 forfeit for South San. Judson will get the max number of points allowed for 27-6A’s playoff tiebreaker.
When it comes to dealing with pandemic era sports, Barron said too many things are out of coaches’ hands.
“When we got pushed back to Oct. 5, we couldn’t control that,” Barron said. “There was no sense being angry or disappointed, because it was out of our control. We just have to take things one day at a time and make the best of our situation. That’s everybody. That’s just not us. Obviously, we are further behind, but other school districts around town are all kind of hurting in certain ways.”