Although it has been stated many times before, 2020 has been a year unlike any other. This has been true for everyone and everything, including sports. Many professional leagues continued to play after having a short hiatus due to the pandemic. The NBA had their “bubble,” with virtual fans in attendance. The NHL resumed their season with an extended playoffs of 24 teams versus the normal 16, all the while playing in empty arenas. The MLB went from cancelling their season indefinitely to having a 60 game season played in front of cardboard cutouts. The NFL also implemented the cardboard cutout and reduced capacity guidelines. College football has shown its challenges. Many players opted out of the season. Many conferences, including the Big Ten and Pac 12, resumed their conference- only schedules much later than every other active conference. Some lower divisions had to cancel their seasons outright. Several sports had to be cancelled due to funding issues caused by the pandemic. Then there’s high school football- one of the virus’s toughest opponents.
High school football in Tennessee has yet to finish its story of how it survived the pandemic provided by Covid-19. The beginning of season seemed like it would never come. Many teams weren’t able to practice until a week or two before their first game. Along with the practice came many restrictions. Walker Severance, an assistant linebackers coach for Karns High School of Knox County, TN, was able to provide a coach’s insight on how the season went. According to Severance, “The place that was hit the hardest was during the offseason. We weren’t allowed to go into the building. We weren’t allowed to use the locker room facilities, and we weren’t allowed to use the upstairs weight room.” When asked why this was such an issue, Severance claimed, “You’re trying to get everyone on the same page. Freshmen have to come in and learn the plays, and the older guys have to get stronger so they aren’t weaker than everybody else.” A solution to this was moving all the equipment from inside to outside. They also had to make smaller practice groups so they could properly enforce social- distancing guidelines.
Even with a delayed start and lack of development for most teams, the challenges didn’t stop there. Many teams found their games getting cancelled, whether they had a positive case or the opposing team did. The end result was to wait for two weeks in a “quarantine” protocol. A solution to this was teams communicating throughout the week on social media to possibly schedule a game by Friday night. If no game was rescheduled then teams would simply have one less game played on their overall record.
There was a debate with football happening. Many high school students have virtual class instead of being in the classroom, or hybrid schedules where few students are allowed in the school and around each other. These rules seem to go out the window on Friday nights when all the athletes are huddled together on the sidelines while the stands are filled with fans.
A big thing was rules and regulations. Aside from social distancing and outdoor practice that was supposed to happen, coaches and players alike were supposed to wear masks when not in full uniform. Surprisingly, coaches and players were not required to be tested for the. “There was no official testing. We told them if they felt sick, they probably should get tested and to just stay home,” according to Walker. There were false positives, but in the event that happened games were delayed, unless they could confirm no active cases.
One of the biggest things to happen to players during this time was the process of recruiting. Many players need as much practice film and game film as they can in hopes of playing football past high school. With limited practices and total games played in a season, this hindered the process for many players to showcase their skills. “The problem is that not all kids get to play, whether it be injury or the fact that we’re trying to win games. This means kids get less film to show off to potential college coaches,” states Severance, who also helps with much of the recruiting process at Karns.
There is some conspiracy of how each county mandated any protocols with regards to the Tennessee State Department of health, but that’s another issue.
As high school football in Tennessee is trying to finish the playoffs, a second wave of the virus could make it presence felt.
Brandon Shown 