The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
NEWS GOOD, BAD FOR AREA TEAMS
Teams such as Kirtland will practice on Aug. 1; Mayfield’s news not good
Mason Sullivan spent the early morning hours of July 31 hoping it wasn’t all in vane.
As the senior, two-time AllOhioan from the Kirtland football team went through his normal, grueling weight-lifting session at the school, he grimaced as defensive coordinator Ryan
Beeler read off the list of area schools that had postponed or cancelled fall sports because of the novel coronavirus.
It was hitting ay too close to home.
Finally around 1 p.m., Sullivan and his teammates got good news.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced they were reaffirming their position for fall sports to go on as planned on Aug. 1.
“It was scary in the morning. Beeler was updating us on all the schools who were cancelling,” Sullivan said. “To hear we’re going to play, I was so happy. All the hard work me and my team has been putting in has been unreal. If the season were postponed or cancelled, it would have been devastating.”
Football (as well as soccer, cross country and field hockey) still aren’t totally out of the woods. As part of its announcement on July 31, the OHSAA noted that scrimmages are still not permitted. If school vs. school competition (i.e. games) are not approved by Friday, Sept. 4, fall contact sports, as well as winter and spring sports, will move to a condensed schedule.
But on a day where pretty much all of Cuyahoga County and other districts around the state shut down fall sports while their school districts announced virtual learning for the first nine weeks of the school year, silver linings were silver linings.
“I had kind of lost hope a little bit in the morning,” said Mentor’s all-Ohio quarterback Ian Kipp. “My mom works with Michael Huss’ dad, and when Mayfield cancelled, that hit me really hard.”
Huss is Mayfield’s decorated senior quarterback.
“That really hit me when I saw he wasn’t going to be having a season,” Kipp said of Huss. “You never really know when you’re last snap is gonna be. It’s a big sigh of relief that mine wasn’t last season.”
Well before the OHSAA made its announcement that practices would begin as scheduled on Aug. 1, schools began announcing their plans. Mayfield was one of the first, following the recommendation (as most county schools did) of offering only remote learning to start the school year.
“It also saddens me to inform you that the county board of health has recommended extra-curricular activities including athletics be cancelled in the interest of health and safety,” wrote Mayfield superintendent Keith Kelly in an email obtained by The News-Herald.
Kelly continued on to say there would be no extra-curriculars
as long as virtual learning is in place.
That could leave the door open for Mayfield to possibly get in some late-season games.
“I hope it’s not totally cancelled,” said Mayfield football coach Ross Bandiera. “I hope for some type of shortened season if the (COVID) numbers hopefully get better.
“I guess at the end of the day, our kids’ safety is the No. 1 priority. If this is what our district feels is the best thing, I’m on board with that. They have our best interests in mind and they’re fighting tooth and nail for us. They’re just following the guidelines set forth by the county.”
Just up the street at Brush, football coach Eddie Hall winced at the idea of telling his players that fall sports had been halted indefinitely.
“We’ll try to find a way to turn this into a positive lesson, but man, it’s gonna be hard,” Hall said. “We’re still holding out hope for some games so the kids get some sort of a senior year.”
There is a growing list of schools who are either suspending or cancelling fall sports, most of which are from Cuyahoga County, who have been recommended by their board of health to not play fall sports while remote learning takes place.
If every school follows through with that recommendation, there will be vast holes in schedules, such as in the Western Reserve Conference, where both Mayfield and Brush potentially would be out of action.
The Chagrin Valley Conference would also take a big hit as seven of the league’s 22 schools — Orange, Chagrin Falls, Lutheran West, Independence, Brooklyn, Trinity and Cuyahoga Heights — are in Cuyahoga County.
“I’m sure we’re not the only team that could lose games,” LaVerde said.
Mentor athletic director Jeff Cassella told The NewsHerald the Cardinals’ season opener against Clarkson (Canada) has been cancelled. If other Greater Cleveland Conference
games are cancelled because opponents are from Cuyahoga County and are suspending fall sports, Mentor’s schedule could dwindle significantly.
“Pretty close to impossible, but we’re gonna try,” said Cassella of filling the Week 1 slot vacated by Clarkson. “We’ve had initial phone calls with a lot of people, but everybody is waiting to see what happens before making commitments. As of now, we are without a Week 1 opponent.”
Area officials said a lot remains up in the air. With the OHSAA’s announcement on July 31, there’s at least a starting point on Aug. 1.
Just not with everyone. So while there’s rejoicing in some areas, there’s heartbreak in others.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” said Mayfield senior quarterback Michael Huss, who saw his school shut down fall sports on July 31. “I think we all saw it coming, but when you finally see it in writing, it’s heartbreaking.”