How to transport football teams
Said one Bay Area coach: ‘In past years, a football bus ride back after a big win is a great celebration’
After more than two decades in high school athletics, Steve Sell still remembers that bus ride back from Terra Nova. By then the head coach at Aragon High in San Mateo, Sell assumed his seat following a preseason scrimmage when, behind him, a sophomore tapped him on the shoulder.
“Coach Sell, are all bus rides like this? Wow, this is pretty great.”
That was in 2013. The player, Dillan Lovell, long graduated.
This season, many players in the
Bay Area won’t get the same opportunity to make those memories, even as they relish the chance to take the field for the first time in 15 months. The COVID-19 pandemic means more games will be played nearby, and state health guidelines advise against the use of buses or carpools.
“It’s going to be completely different,” Sell said. “The bus ride certainly is a unique experience. Between that and the fans and everything else, it’s going to feel different. But we have to remember that all along the most important thing is to get kids participating on the field.”
At Aragon and the six other schools in the San Mateo Union High School District, players — and parents — will be on their own to find transportation to games this season. With the required social distancing on board and no games more than a few miles from campus, it didn’t make sense to enlist a fleet of buses this season, Sell said.
“How much are you going to accomplish getting 12 kids on a bus?” Sell said. “It’s a spit in the ocean compared to how many kids you usually have to transport.”
Some teams are going to try, nonetheless.
Parents at Campolindo High in Moraga will gather Friday afternoon to see off the Cougars for their hour-long trip to Oakley to open
their long-awaited season at Freedom.
Rather than use the district’s smaller school buses, the parents arranged charter coaches to accommodate social distancing measures. The guidelines are strict: Windows open, masks on, no eating and only one person per row.
In place of a traditional send-off will instead be a contact-tracing check-in — the first on a laundry list of precautions taken to lower the chance of spreading COVID-19 while still providing what they believe to be an essential part of the high school experience.
“Right now people are starving to let their kids have their experiences back,” said coach Kevin Macy.
And they are willing to pay a hefty sum: a grand total of $2,100 to rent three charter buses for the varsity and junior varsity trips.
Before they leave Friday, each player’s position on the bus will be logged with a photo for contacttracing purposes. They’ll also remain in the same pods for the trip there and back, as well as any future trips.
Klock said the parents
planned to charter another trip to the following week’s game at Benicia, as well as two others for the freshman squad later this season.
While Macy stipulated that it wasn’t his idea, he agreed the bus trip was a unique experience.
On the Campolindo bus, an intense silence falls over the players on their way to the game. No phones, no earbuds, little talking, Macy said.
“You hear the breathing of your teammates,” Macy said. “The bus is quiet. …
You understand the importance of what we’re doing. …
“That’s all part of the experience that comes with football. And if you get a victory, there’s nothing better. Because now you can —”
Macy paused and caught himself.
“Well, I don’t know what we can do when we’re social distancing.
“In past years, a football bus ride back after a big win is such a great celebration. When you play at home, the kids are quickly
clearing out of the locker room. But when you win on the road and everyone is still together, it’s like the best thing in the world.”
An hour-long drive home from Oakley would provide ample opportunity for celebration. This year, however, even a joyous bus ride back will look a little different, Macy said.
“It’s not like we’re going to be jumping on each other or anything like that,” he said. “I think they’ll just have that very sentimental feeling of being together riding back.”