Anything but routine
Coaches seek the ‘new normal’ during these uncertain times
R udy Bagos laughed that 32 years after graduating from Ledyard High School he can still remember both the practice schedule and plays used by Bill Mignault, the Colonels' late, great football coach.
"Conditioning on Tuesday and Wednesday,” said Bagos, who is now the head coach of both the East Lyme football and golf teams. “Wednesday and Thursday was pulls and bag drills. Friday was pregame and Saturday morning were games.
"That was one thing I learned from Coach Mignault — to keep everything simple and keep it consistent."
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has dropped reality onto its head, wrecking the flow and patterns of life. The world's new normal can be terrifying, depressing and overwhelming, and has impacted mental health perhaps more than physical health. The need to maintain (or start) routines has been stressed by the medical community during the pandemic.
"Developing and maintaining healthy routines is paramount in the undefined time of COVID-19, as they provide a sense of structure, security and consistency," Dr. Alice Schruba, Psy.D, told Psychology Today.
There are few professions with bigger sticklers for routine than coaches. The disruption of a practice, game postponements or too many days in between games (or too few) can become major inconveniences.
Personal note: I long thought it was comical to the point of eye-rolling how overly attached coaches seem to be about routines until I had to cover a game a few years ago. I was unable to stand and view the game from where I normally did and found it was both harder to track the game than usual and that
I was also very aggravated.
It soon dawned on me that my normal routine of covering a game had been changed.
I immediately stopped thinking that coaches were too consumed with their routines.
A few local coaches were asked about their routines with their teams, whether they be important or silly, to break up the monotony.
•••• A huge part of any high school (or college) team's season is honoring their seniors, and Stonington softball coach Ann-Marie Houle wasn't about to let be taken away by the pandemic.
The Bears have three seniors — Sarah Flakus and Brenna and Katie McNeil — and Houle got the team together last Wednesday (May 13) to honor them in person.
“I went shopping,” Houle said. “We always get them gifts to prepare them for freshman year at colleges. This year they got personalized blankets. … I have to say it was a funny day for me because we were going to meet at 1:30 at the (Pawcatuck Shopping Plaza) and I wondered why I was so nervous. But it wasn't nerves. It was anticipation, that these are my people (I've been missing).
“You've got to keep that feeling of normalcy because I think it helps them. This is how I felt coming home — I don't want them to think about the memories or things that they lost (to the pandemic), but what things we could create and make memories of. When I think about this year, I will think about doing Play 4 the Cure with GameDay, I will think about the TikTok videos we made. We did what we could and that was a huge lesson.”
This would've been the 11th spring in which the Stonington and Waterford softball teams held their annual Play 4 the Cure game which raises money for Camp Rising Sun and the Lisa Wentz-Day Scholarship. The teams took part in a rebroadcast of the 2017 game on theday.com last Thursday.
The two teams still raised money and, despite schools being closed and social distancing, Stonington raised $1,525 of its $2,000 goal as of Monday, the most money it has ever raised for the event. Donations may be made at https://givebutter.com/ playforthecure.
“It's not in my personality to sit back and go, ‘oh, well,'” Houle said. “There's still money to be raised. We can't take the year off.
“It was more than I thought we'd raise and, to do it in a pandemic, it's even more exciting. … I love how it all played out. How can you still make whatever we're living through a positive instead of (dwelling on) what we've lost.”
••••
This spring was going to be Judy Deeb's 49th as head coach of the East Lyme softball team, and one doesn't become the state's all-time winningest coach in that sport without some tried-and-true routines.
Deeb, however, has learned the value in having routines that deviate from the same-old, same-old.
"I think that sometimes my best practices are the ones I veer off the routines, like last year, I put Easter eggs on the field and had (the players) find them," Deeb said. "They also like little competitive games that we'll work on that are silly and stuff, relays and races and things like that that break up the routine because softball, it's kind of monotonous at times if you think about it. Throw and catch every day and throw and
catch and throw and catch.
"All of those routines are very important because it sets the tone and the kids know what to expect of them, but leaving that routine and throwing a monkey wrench once in a while helps with motivation and competitiveness."
At the end of the season, Deeb will pair off players and have them engage in drills and skills such as bouncing the ball off the bat 10 times, with the winners getting a prize.
"It's competitive," Deeb said. "They really work hard at something like that."
••••
This would have been the final week of the regular season for most sports with conference tournaments starting next week.
It also means that the Old Lyme girls' lacrosse team would have been close to one of the favorite parts of the season for head coach Emily Macione — “Olympic Day.”
“We take a break (from practicing) for a day and we give them something fun to do for team building,” Macione said. “We made teams and do different types of challenges, like throwing a ball or running relays. Tiger Tails, that's their favorite thing to do.”
In Tiger Tails, the players tuck a tail into the back of their shorts.
“You're trying to take away as many tails as you can, sort of like a last man standing,” Macione said. “They make alliances, break them. … You have to stay in a confined space.
“That's always the most popular event. Every year they ask for it. It's kind of an institution.”
••••
The recurring joke from outsiders about the Ledyard football program during the Mignault era was that he was running the same plays he did 20 years ago . ... and they were still working.
Mignault retired as the state's alltime winningest football coach (321) in 2007. He coached the team to four CIAC state titles because he stuck to a routine of simplicity, consistency and repetition.
“You know what's funny is that all the Ledyard players remember the plays no matter what year you graduated,” Bagos said. “There's a Facebook page (for former Ledyard players) and we all talk about the same plays that we ran.
“I'll tell you what was really fascinating was when I started coaching at East Lyme and coach Mignault was still at Ledyard, I knew what plays he would run. I would call out, like, ‘here comes the counter pass!' and we would try to defend it and they'd still complete it and score a touchdown.”
Mignault coached at Waterford from 1959-63 and started Ledyard's program in 1966. The Colonels' final win under him was the 2007 Class M title.
Mignault died on Oct. 1, 2019. He was 90.
“He kept it simple and that's why he was so good,” Bagos said. “I find myself during the season trying to add more and more (to the playbook) and I have to remind myself that I don't need it.
“Keep things simple. That's one of the things I always remember about him.” n.griffen@theday.com
“All of those routines are very important because it sets the tone and the kids know what to expect of them, but leaving that routine and throwing a monkey wrench once in a while helps with motivation and competitiveness.”
JUDY DEEB EAST LYME SOFTBALL COACH