Back in July of 2020, it was announced that all fall sports would be postponed until winter quarter due to COVID-19. Since then, there have been different phases of things teams can do during that time. For our Bigfoot soccer teams, practices have been held since September and games can finally start early April after a schedule is finalized mid March.
The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) sports committee prescribes a “color phase” protocol for student athletes and teams to follow in order to return to play. Conjunction with the NWAC Sports Medicine Committee, Dr. D Gooyer, and review of literature from state, national health agencies, NCAA, and other medical agencies, NWAC created this approach for the Return to Play Guidelines.
There are four color phases: grey, red, yellow, green, then blue. The grey phase took place back in August when athletes had to quarantine for 14 days in the residence they would be living in while participating in athletics. Once the quarantine and the COVID-19 addendum were completed for players, teams could move on to the red phase (limited group practices with no more than 10 allowed). Virtual meetings and individual workouts were also held during this time. It wasn’t until the yellow phase that things started to feel back to normal and full team practices could take place with social distancing measures. Now approaching the green phase, teams will finally be able to participate in both practices and games. When all is clear and things are considered back to normal is the last phase which is blue.
While practicing and waiting for games to start up, teams have been able to bond and get creative with their time. During this time, the women’s soccer team has been reading a book as a group called Pound The Stone by Joshua Medcalf.
“It’s kind of been our mantra this year and will be the program philosophy moving forward,” said the women’s head coach, Brock Ogami.
Pound The Stone is an intense and inspiring story of a young man’s journey through the obstacles, defeats, and eventual victories that come while developing grit on the path to mastery. The women’s soccer team has had their share of obstacles this season as well as the other fall sports teams waiting to compete, but soon their hard work will be put to the test.
“Just a fantastic read,” said coach Ogami.
It has been a challenging ride for the rest of the fall sports, too. Volleyball, Golf, and Cross Country have been following the same out of season training protocol.
For Volleyball, practices could only happen in “pods,” or groups of 3-4. It was huge for them and their team chemistry when they could finally have their first full team practice in January.
“I’m very proud of the way our girls have handled the ever-changing covid protocols and their resilience in pushing forward every day,” said head Volleyball coach, Taylor Stewart. “Without their commitment to all of this, we may not have been able to play this year–BUT here we are! We did it.”
The CCS Golf Program is not regulated to travel at all and is only training locally. Of those member colleges offering cross country, they are following the same guidelines.
“Our efforts will now focus on working with the Cross Country committee to make their 2021 season the best it can possibly be,” stated the NWAC.
It has been quite the journey for these athletes and coaches, but because of their positivity and perseverance they’ll be able to make something out of their season.