The Comets defeated Georgetown-Ridge Farm 47-6, with Clouse providing 97 rushing years and four touchdowns. 

While many of Oakwood’s losses have come by slim margins, Clouse has put together performances that have kept the Comets in the game. He rushed for a team-high 169 yards with 32 carries, including one touchdown in a 29-27 overtime loss to Hoopeston Area/Armstrong-Potomac. 

Clouse also rushed for 236 yards with 31 carries, including a 71-yard opening touchdown in a 42-12 loss to Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin and 77 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown in a 33-32 loss to Iroquois West.

When the Comets needed someone to fill in the defensive gaps, Clouse also stepped into a linebacker position. He register seven tackles against Westville. 

The post Athlete of the Week: Gaven Clouse appeared first on .

Oakwood senior Gaven Clouse had a memorable final home game on Friday (Oct. 15).

Clouse scored touchdowns on four of his eight rushing attempts, leading the Comets to a Senior Night victory over Georgetown-Ridge Farm, 47-6.

The home finale also marked the official naming of the field as Marty McFarland Field in recognition of the winningest Oakwood football coach in school history.

“He created a lot of the culture that we still have at Oakwood,” Comets’ coach Al Craig said. “It was good to see where that culture came from.”

Clouse rushed for 97 yards. He scored two first-period touchdowns and a 66-yard run by Dalton Hobick lifted the Comets into a 20-0 lead after one quarter.

Austin McDaniel converted two extra-point kicks in the first frame.

‘We opened the game up and gave the team some confidence,” Craig said. “It was a pretty good team effort.

“In the rain, you need everyone to do that. Our defense was on point, not allowing them to do a whole lot.”

Clouse added his other two TDs in the second quarter. Oakwood headed into the lockerroom with a 32-0 lead and created a running clock in the third period when a 10-yard scoring scamper by Griffin Trees and Hobick’s two-point conversion gave Oakwood a 40-0 advantage.

Trees rushed for 77 yards on three carries.

The team’s final TD was courtesy of the defense. Noah Phillips returned an interception 20 yards for a fourth-quarter TD.

McDaniel had a team-high seven tackles.

The 47 points scored against the Buffaloes were a team-high and the six points allowed were a team-low for the season.

“We started clicking in Week 6 and  have played  pretty well,” Craig said. “We’ve lost some tough games (two consecutive two-point setbacks before the G-RF game).”

Oakwood (2-6) closes its season on Friday (Oct. 22) with a game at Salt Fork (5-3).

“It’s a natural rivalry because we co-op with them in some sports,” Craig said. “It’s always the last game and it always means something.”

For Salt Fork, a sixth win would guarantee a berth in the postseason playoffs. For Oakwood, it’s a chance to close the season with back-to-back wins for the first time this year.

The post Comets defeat Georgetown-Ridge Farm on Senior Night appeared first on .

Oakwood High School endured yet another close football loss on Friday (Oct. 8) when visiting Hoopeston Area/Armstrong-Potomac pulled out a 29-27 triumph in overtime.

The loss was the third of the season for Oakwood by two points, or less.

“It’s like we’re living in ‘Groundhog Day,’” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “It has been tough.”

The Cornjerkers had the ball first in the extra session. They scored a TD and converted a two-point extra-point attempt.

Oakwood senior Gaven Clouse, who rushed for a team-high 169 yards on 32 carries, scampered 10 yards for a TD, but the Comets’ two-point attempt in overtime was thwarted.

Oakwood scored first, in the second period, on a 4-yard run by Griffin Trees, followed by a placekick from Austin McDaniel.

The Cornjerkers scored twice before halftime and expanded their lead to 21-7 before Oakwood started its comeback.

Craig was pleased by the way his squad responded to the early deficit.

“When you’re behind 21-7 and the playoffs are not on the line, you worry what the kids will do,” Craig said. “They came back and gave us a chance to win.”

Clouse scored a third-quarter TD. Dalton Hobick ran 32 yards for a fourth-period score and added the equalizer on a two-point conversion that sent the game into overtime, tied 21-21.

For the game, Hobick rushed for 61 yards.

Trees led the Comets’ defensive effort with seven tackles.

Oakwood (1-6) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 15) in its home-finale and Senior Night game against Georgetown-Ridge Farm (0-7), a team that Craig said “is making improvements every week.”

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the dedication of the Oakwood football field to former coach Marty McFarland was postponed last week and rescheduled for halftime of the upcoming game against Georgetown-Ridge Farm.

Seven Oakwood seniors will be recognized on Friday in a pre-game ceremony.

They are: Gaven Clouse, Xander Draper, Connor Matson, Auston McDaniel, Devin Sanders, Griffin Trees and Josh Young.

“They are a great bunch of kids who love football and work hard,” Craig said. “They definitely will be missed.

“They have been through some great times and this year, some tough times, but they have handled it in stride.”

The post Comets continue to improve, despite record appeared first on .

Oakwood came up short on Friday (Oct. 1) in a historic high school football game in Vermilion County.

The Comets dropped a 14-12 decision at Westville in the first game played in Vermilion County on artificial turf. For Westville, it was the first home game since October, 2019. The school’s athletic complex was recently refurbished.

“The field is great, the atmosphere is fantastic and the game lived up to the hype,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “We came out on the short end, but we tell them to just keep battling.”

The Comets pulled within 7-6 in the second quarter when Dalton Hobick – who returned from an injury that had sidelined him the previous two games – hooked up with Josh Young on an 85-yard scoring play.

Westville moved its lead to 14-6 at halftime and was scoreless the last two periods.

“As a whole, our defense played well,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “Our kids played hard and stuck to the game plan.”

The game was the second since the Comets’ staff shifted Gaven Clouse and Austin McDaniel into the linebacker positions.

The lone second-half TD on a 3-yard run by Hobick in the third quarter.

Hobick completed 9 of 17 passes for 185 yards. Young had four of the receptions and turned them into gains of 125 yards.

Defensively, Griffin Trees had a team-high eight tackles, followed by Clouse with seven tackles.

Oakwood (1-5) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 8) against Hoopeston Area in a game that will mark the formal dedication of the Comets home site as Marty McFarland Field.

“Marty put in a lot of time and is very deserving of this honor,” Craig said.

Besides the two-point setback at Westville, Oakwood also suffered a one-point loss to Iroquois West.

The post Comets end up short at Westville appeared first on .

The Oakwood Comets scored the game’s first and last touchdowns on Saturday (Sept. 25) in their homecoming game.

Gaven Clouse, who rushed for a team-high 236 yards on 31 carries, opened the scoring in the first quarter, exploding for a 71-yard scoring burst.

He also added the two-point conversion.

Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin scored the next 42 points and emerged with a 42-14 triumph.

“We played well, but they played even better,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “We had the lead early and a chance to put them down.”

After the Comets’ first score, Young intercepted a pass, but Oakwood was unable to take advantage.

On the first B-H/R-A scoring down, the Blue Devils needed to convert a third-and-18 play.

Also before halftime, Oakwood moved inside the B-H/R-A 30-yard line, but came up empty.

“We’d get inside the 30, but couldn’t push it in,” Craig said. “We’d have a good drive and then have a false start or somehow find a way to lose yards.”

 Austin McDaniel hauled in a 6-yard scoring strike from Josh Young in the final quarter to complete the scoring in a Vermilion Valley Conference contest.

Clouse had a season’s high for rushing yardage.

“Gaven puts in the time to get those yards,” Craig said. “It was nice to see the offensive line open holes for him.”

Young was 3-for-6, throwing for 27 yards. He has filled in the past two games for the injured Dalton Hobick, who is hoping to play this week.

Oakwood (1-4) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 1) at Westville (4-1). The game will be the first one played on Westville’s turf field at its all-new athletic complex west of the high school.

It will be the Tigers’ first home football game since 2019.

“Westville is a very physical team and it’s always a war when we play them,” Craig said.

The post Clouse leads Comets in homecoming game against BHRA appeared first on .

By FRED KRONER

fred@mahometnews.com

Some things change, and that is a positive.

Imagine finding high school coaches these days if the stipend matched what was offered in the fall of 1970, when Marty McFarland was starting his career in education.

“Assistants were paid $200 (at Catlin),” McFarland said.

That’s not per week or per game, but per season.

Some things never changed and that, too, is positive.

The rules McFarland implemented in his first year as the varsity football coach at Oakwood in the fall of 1978 were the same ones that he asked of his players in his final season on the sidelines in 2000.

“We had a hair rule,” McFarland said. “No facial hair and off the collar in the back.”

There was no deviation as the years turned into decades.

“Once it’s established, you can’t go back,” McFarland said. “It’s not fair to the kids you coached before.”

And then there are the things that well into the future will not be changing.

One of those is how the football field at Oakwood High School will be known. As of Friday, Oct. 1, it will be called Marty McFarland Field, in recognition of the winningest football coach in school history (126-93 career record).

The dedication ceremony will take place in conjunction with a home game against Hoopeston Area.

“It says a lot that even after 20 years (following retirement) people are willing to do something for you,” McFarland’s son, Ryan, said. “A lot of fields are named after a person and that creates a memory of that person for a long time.”

No one dropped even the faintest hint of what was in the works until the Oakwood school board had approved the naming at its Wednesday (Sept. 15 meeting).

“I had no idea,” Marty McFarland said. “It was a total shock. Once I retired, I kind of walked away. I thought that’s what you were supposed to do. Your time is done.”

He hasn’t been forgotten, nor has his impact been diminished by the passing years.

It was while honoring the Comets’ 1988 state quarterfinal team in 2018 that Tim Lee – who was then the principal – knew what needed to be done.

“I saw the response when Marty was on the field and decided to move,” Lee said. “Marty was a big part of the whole school culture and so well thought of in our community.

“I’m thrilled we are doing this. It probably should have been done sooner. We have had outstanding coaches, but we haven’t had long-term outstanding coaches.”

McFarland is in his high school Hall of Fame (Mattoon, Class of 1965) and the state coaches association Hall of Fame.

One of his first colleagues at Catlin, Dan Hageman, began his coaching tenure the first year that McFarland started.

The field-naming honor is significant, Hageman said, because of where it originated.

“Someone on the outside only knows what they read or hear,” said Hageman, who is now in Year 52 of coaching high school football in the (expanded) district where he started. “Those that you work with know the real person.

“This is long overdue. Marty deserves this.”

Mike Waters is now the athletic director at Westville. He was in a similar position at Oakwood when McFarland arrived.

“He came over from Catlin and immediately got things going,” Waters said. “He’s an institution.

“He and Bob Sermak (assistant coach) set up guidelines and a code of conduct. One reason for the success was the consistency, the way you carried yourself as a football player and as a student at Oakwood High School.”

Oakwood had been to the football playoffs once before McFarland’s tenure began. He guided the Comets into the postseason in nine different seasons.

In the two decades since he retired, Oakwood has made an additional eight playoff appearances.

The school season record for wins in the football program is nine, held jointly by McFarland’s teams in 1983 and 1988.

“You can’t be someone else’s puppet, but he’s good at listening to the right people,” Hageman said. “He’s an excellent coach and an even better person.

“I know if I needed something, 20 minutes from now he would be at my doorstep.”

Among the players that McFarland coached was his son, Ryan, who grew up around Oakwood football.

When he became a high school player, he didn’t have to wonder what to expect.

“Everything was exactly as I remembered it as a little kid,” Ryan McFarland said. “The routine of practice never changed. The routine of summer never changed. The workouts never changed.

“There’s something to be said for consistency. You know what to expect when you get into high school.”

McFarland said he stopped wearing a wristwatch after his first year as a head coach. The length of his practices wasn’t going to be determined by a clock.

“We were not on a time schedule,” he said. “If we didn’t do it right, we did it again, and we did it again.

“It was not unusual to have three- or four-hour practices. I told the kids I would never ask you to do something I haven’t done. Whatever we did, other people had done it before you.”

McFarland’s reputation as a stern task-master preceded some students to high school. That was when Lee saw a different side of the person.

“When I got there, I had Marty for P.E.,” Lee said. “He protected the younger kids. He was a good role model.”

For years, McFarland invited the entire varsity to his house on Sunday afternoon to watch the game film from the most recent contest.

“That way, we didn’t lose any practice time (by watching it on Monday afternoon),” McFarland said.

Marty McFarland remembers the one exception he made about altering the routine.

During two-a-day workouts, he scheduled practices to start at 7:50 a.m. and 3:50 p.m.

In 1983, due to heat warnings, he pushed the second session back to the early evening.

“Our best running back (senior Randy Durbin) died (in an afternoon drowning accident),” McFarland said. “That was the last time I did that. It’s terrible to lose a kid.”

The 1983 Oakwood football team, which had nearly two dozen seniors, went on to become the first – and only – one in school history to go undefeated in a nine-game regular season. (The 1949 team was unbeaten in a seven-game season.)

Team meals were a part of the weekly ritual on the Thursday evening of home games.

That tradition started, in part, McFarland said because, “I found out some kids hadn’t eaten all day and it bothered me.”

A few years into his tenure, team breakfasts began on the Friday morning of games at a local truck stop.

“That was the kids’ idea,” McFarland said.

Coaching and teaching wasn’t his original pathway when he enrolled at Eastern Illinois University.

McFarland thought he would become a certified public accountant.

The few classes he took toward that major, he said, “bored me to death,” and he moved to the education field as a sophomore.

“I’m glad I made the switch,” he said.

He had some anxious moments, however, in the early years of his coaching career.

In his first year at Catlin, the football head coach was fired after four games. McFarland was hired on an interim basis to finish out the season, with Hageman serving as his assistant.

“I was 22 years old,” he said, “just four years older than some of them.

“My first group, they’re 69 or 70 now. That puts things in perspective.”

McFarland’s 74^th birthday is Sept. 28, three days before the Oakwood football field is named in his honor.

Teaching and coaching wasn’t a financially lucrative profession in 1970.

“My first contract was under $6,000 (annually),” McFarland said, pointing out that gas was also 27 cents a gallon at the time. “I lived paycheck to paycheck.

“When I got to Oakwood, I took a job as a custodian at a bank three nights a week to get some extra money.”

School personnel soon found ways to supplement his salary, including driving a bus.

In return, McFarland said, “I would get to work early and leave late.”

He expected a similar commitment from his athletes.

“The bus never left at 4,” McFarland said. “It left at 10 ‘til 4.

“That’s part of the discipline. You ride with me and you get to play.”

While McFarland is recognized as the winningest football coach at Oakwood, he said there is plenty of credit to share.

“I was blessed with unbelievable assistant coaches,” he said. “If I said practice was at 8, they’d be there by 7:30.

“It was a ‘we’ deal all the way through.”

Among the other assistants, besides Sermak, who had lengthy tenures with McFarland were Bill Blair, Mike Nolan and Dyke Wilson.

It was his own time as an assistant coach – under Don Lashmet at Catlin – they helped establish the coach that McFarland became.

“He was discipline-oriented and helped me set my mind on what needed to be done,” McFarland said. “That was one of the best things that happened to me as far as my philosophies of coaching.”

Another significant moment was when Oakwood principal Glenn Keever sought out McFarland, when he was still at Catlin, and asked if he would be interested in a job he hadn’t applied for.

“The timing was good for everybody,” Waters said. “Marty had enough years under his belt as an assistant to a legend and was ready to get out on his own and try things his own way.”

McFarland and his wife, Jan, celebrated their 51^st wedding anniversary in August. He knew where to start after his hiring at Oakwood was official.

“I called every boy in school and asked him to come out for football,” McFarland said.

“It took a while to get on track, but once we got ‘em, we were really good in the ‘80s.”

Lee found it interesting which students went out for football.

“Marty got kids out who didn’t play any other sports,” Lee said. “He made them feel like they were a part of something bigger than themselves.”

In the last eight years of the 1980s, McFarland’s teams were a combined 60-21 with six playoff appearances.

“He got talent, and did a lot with it,” Hageman said.

McFarland said it is difficult to express in words what the honor means.

“I’ve been blessed for so many years,” he said, “and this is another one.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. I’m glad I’m alive to look at it and enjoy it.”

Waters has less difficulty explaining the significance of the meaning of Marty McFarland Field.

“It’s a testament not only to what the school thinks, but what the community thinks about what you did for them in an honorable, upfront manner,” Waters said.

The post Oakwood Football field to be named after Marty McFarland appeared first on .

Oakwood’s Comets were within a touchdown of Clifton Central entering the fourth quarter on Friday (Sept. 10), but the visitors added two more TDs and claimed a 26-8 win.

Josh Young hauled in a 20-yard scoring strike from Dalton Hobick in the first quarter. The same two players then teamed up on a two-point conversion that lifted Oakwood into an 8-6 lead.

Young finished with three receptions for 30 yards, but finished the game at quarterback after Hobick was injured.

Gaven Clouse was the Oakwood workhorse, rushing for 66 yards on 23 carries.

Defensively, Griffin Trees led Oakwood with nine tackles.

Clifton held a 14-8 lead at halftime, a margin that held up until the final quarter. The visitors’ final TD came on an interception return.

“The game keeps coming down to a couple plays for us,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “When I look back, there were four plays this week that if we get, we probably win the game.”

One focus this week will be offensive consistency.

“We have to get our running game more on track,” Craig said. “Our offensive line took a step forward.”

The coach doesn’t sense any loss of enthusiasm after two consecutive tough losses.

“Our spirits are pretty good,” Craig said. “We know we can turn things around. The talent and ability is there.”

When Hobick was sidelined last week, Alec Harrison stepped into the secondary as his replacement. Harrison also filled in for Young at receiver after his shift to quarterback.

Regardless of his position, Young made his presence felt.

“He is electric as a receiver and he ran the ball very well, too,” Craig said.

Oakwood (0-3) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 17) at Dwight (0-3). This week’s opponent hasn’t played since Week 1, forfeiting two games while being short-handed due to COVID-19.

The post Comet football remains enthusiastic appeared first on .

The Comets dropped a heartbreaking 33-32 loss in overtime to unbeaten Iroquois West in their home-opener on Friday (Sept. 3).

Iroquois West nailed a 42-yard field goal with 16 seconds to play in regulation to force the extra session.

Dalton Hobick scored his second touchdown for Oakwood in OT, but the Comets were unable to make the two-point conversion.

The Raiders scored on a pass play and then nailed the extra-point placement to salvage the one-point triumph.

“It was a heck of a high school game, but we came up short,” Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “Iroquois West made big plays when they needed them most.”

Hobick completed 10 of 13 passes for 159 yards. He fired second-half scoring strikes of 6 and 28 yards to Josh Young, who caught seven passes for 109 yards.

Gaven Clouse was the top Oakwood rusher, gaining 77 yards on 12 carries. Clouse scored a fourth-quarter TD on a 17-yard run.

Hobick’s 48-yard scoring romp in the second quarter was the team’s longest scoring play. It also accounted for Oakwood’s only points before halftime.

“We got better as the game went on,” Craig said. “Basically it was Week 1 for us (because 16 players sat out the opener due to COVID-19 tracing).

“We only had two starters play the week before and one of them was out of position.

“We hoped to get momentum going in the second half, and we broke out and built an 11-point lead. I was impressed with how they battled and handled adversity. We missed two weeks of practice and our conditioning was not the best.”

The Comets scored five TDs, but only made one conversion try, a run by Hobick in the second half.

Austin McDaniel led Oakwood defensively with 10 tackles.

Oakwood (0-2) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 10) against Clifton Central.

The post Comets show promise in first home game appeared first on .

With 16 players sidelined by a COVID-19 quarantine, Oakwood’s short-handed football team lost a 45-0 decision on Friday (Aug. 27) on the road at Momence.

The Comets yielded six first-half touchdowns and trailed 38-0 at intermission.

Junior Noah Phillips was the Comets’ top rusher with 39 yards. Sophomore Alec Harrison led Oakwood with 25 receiving yards. Sophomore Keevyn Wilson finished with a team-high five tackles.

Oakwood (0-1) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 3) at home against Iroquois West (1-0), which opened with a 31-14 win over Hoopeston Area.

The post COVID-19 quarantine leaves Oakwood football short-handed appeared first on .

fred@mahometnews.com

Area high schools are in the process of preparing their athletes to return to competition.

The IHSA permitted limited participation last week, allowing districts to conduct conditioning, agility and strength training exercises in small groups.

Oakwood chose to wait until this week in order to get its plan in place.

“We are taking a cautious approach for right now,” Oakwood football coach Al Craig said. “We are making sure all the ducks are in a row before we start.

“We have been meeting with the athletes once a week on Zoom and going over things we would have normally gone over. It has gone well.”

Craig fears the repercussions of doing too much too soon.

“I am just concerned with health and safety,” he said. “I don’t ever want our student-athletes or coaches in danger.

 “I’m also worried that too much at the beginning gets everything closed down again, then we lose August. We don’t want that. Nobody wants that.”

St. Joseph-Ogden and Villa Grove/Heritage began the process of restarting workouts last week.

Throughout the area, slow steps are the norm.

“Right now, they are student-athletes who we haven’t seen for multiple weeks,” SJ-O football coach Shawn Skinner said. “We are working on getting them in shape.

“Their core, legs and lungs are what we want to ensure are getting ready as we progress at this time.”

SJ-O athletes are at the school in shifts, taking advantage of the weight room.

“We have eight groups and those groups have six to eight kids,” Skinner said. “We have some groups going at 7 a.m., another set at 11 a.m. and another round at 5 p.m.

“Prior to working out, we have to check the kids in with a series of questions and we record their temperatures. We will do that every time we work out, at least during this stage of our return-to-play plan.

“We have essentially created small weight rooms outside on and around our track and sports fields. The workouts incorporate speed improvement, flexibility, strength and conditioning.”

The workout takes about an hour and the athletes remain with the same group every day. Sixty-five Spartan football prospects, from freshmen through seniors, worked out last week.

Skinner said his program is not far behind where he originally expected to be by mid-June.

“Our summer plan was to always be in the weight room three days a week, so from that standpoint we are moving forward with that plan,” Skinner said. “We have lost only about two weeks of summer workouts, so we are trying to stay positive from that standpoint.”

He said the school’s staff is doing everything possible to not put anyone at risk.

“Obviously we want everyone to be as safe and healthy as can be,” Skinner said, “so we’re being cognizant of spacing and what we touch; wiping down and cleaning equipment after every athlete uses that.

“For the athletes, we want to avoid over-taxing them early. Some of them have been working out at home, but several of them have not. It’s not a race to get back in shape in one week.

“This will be a process and we have to ensure we avoid injuries, especially soft tissue injuries, as that could linger all season.”

Unless athletes were working out on their own, most had been away from regimented practices for more than 80 days. Skinner didn’t know what level of conditioning and fitness to expect from his returnees.

“I was really concerned with what shape we would be in,” he said. “Honestly, it’s better than I thought. It’s not good, but it’s not bad either.”

Villa Grove/Heritage football coach Heath Wilson has about 50 potential football players working out.

“At this point, I am just excited,” Wilson said. “Excited to get to start working with the players and coaches.

“A lot of our players are out of shape due to the stay-at-home order, so it’s time to do the work and get ready for the season.”

The staff at VG/Heritage is adhering to recommendations.

“First and foremost, we are making sure we understand and implement the guidelines appropriately,” Wilson said. “The safety of these athletes is very important. We have worked quickly to survey our players, break them into groups and get them in the weight room. 

“With seven coaches, we are able to divide and conquer. We have six groups that are working out three days a week. During this phase, we are focused on lifting and conditioning.”

The emphasis is not the same for coaches in cross-country and soccer as it is in football.

“The great thing about our sport, although it’s better to be together, it can be done solo,” SJ-O cross-country coach Jason Retz said. “Every athlete has the same ability to improve.

“We are simply going to control what we can control and enjoy each day as it comes.”

Retz expects a turnout between 40 and 50, including both the boys’ and girls’ programs.

“We meet once a week and have four groups right now,” Retz said. “They already have their own schedules they are working off, so we get together and they get it done.”

Bill DeJarnette is returning to the SJ-O soccer program he helped to implement. He has about 15 potential players thus far and they are divided into two groups.

“We plan to continue to add (groups) as we expand our recruitment,” DeJarnette said. “The workouts will vary within cycles.

“Cycle examples are Plyo, Long Slow, Intervals, fast twitch, strength and visualization, with constant evaluation of strengths and weaknesses so we can tune the workouts to address issues as needed.”

Conditioning is generally not an activity that teen-agers look forward to. This month could be an exception.

“We are excited to be back together, even if only for conditioning,” Villa Grove coach Jeanine Block said. “The girls are excited to see one another and are anxious for the next phase.”

Oakwood volleyball coach Lynn Anderson said the starting point is to make clear that the guidelines in place must be followed.

“My main concern is getting the players to understand we have regulations we have to follow,” Anderson said. “That is foreign to them, in a sense, especially with the sport.”

Block said she tries to keep things fresh and not repeat the same routine.

“Kids get bored without sport-specific activities,” Block said. “We are doing our best to make the workouts ‘competitive,’ but these girls are anxious to play volleyball.”

The unexpected break, which was mandated by the COVID-19 pandemic, took away from the ongoing changes around the SJ-O facilities.

“Prior to the virus shutting everything down, we were having a very good offseason,” Skinner said. “We had really built up some momentum in our weight room.

“Casey Hug, our athletic trainer, has assisted us in changing our strength and conditioning program and you could really see the kids’ bodies starting to change.”

A booster support group was helping to implement other additions and improvements,

“Our SJO Fan Club had purchased new equipment and Mr. Hug had updated our weight room,” Skinner said. “If we had returned from Spring Break, it would have been an entirely new facility for our kids.

“I can’t wait to get to use it in the manner we really want to soon. We hope that happens in early July as we enter the next stage in the return-to-play.”

The coaches have mixed feelings about what is in store in the weeks and months ahead.

“We will plan and work with the assumption that the fall season is a go,” DeJarnette said. “Even if not, there are no downsides to working together as a team every opportunity you get.”

Added Retz: “The opportunity to help student-athletes grow will continue to happen regardless of what the season looks like.

“Our goal is to help make better people. That will happen regardless if we get to race against other schools or not.”

Craig sees many issues that need to be resolved before games can again take place. He isn’t convinced that everything can fall into place.

“I would love to say I’m really confident, but I’m not,” Craig said. “I would say I’m somewhere between pessimist and optimist.

“I just need to see the logistics of games and locker room usage before I can become really confident.”

Block said now is the time to plan for the possibilities of what a new-normal may look like.

“I can see us playing, with precautions and possibly no fans,” she said. “We are looking at options to live stream games in case the parents/fans are not allowed to attend games.”

Anderson, too, wonders what athletic competition will look like once the games resume.

“My concern is whether we can just relax and play eventually,” Anderson said. “If we have to wear masks, wipe down balls, not touch each other, etc.

“Where is the consistency of just playing, when we have to worry with everything else? Hopefully, it won’t come to that. How confident about whether we have a season or not depends on the day and who I listen to.”

Skinner said this is a time of many questions, but few answers.

“Obviously, the threat of the virus is going to remain and it’s not going to change anytime soon,” he said. “What do we do if one of our players or coaches gets it? What will that look like? Also, how do we advance the workouts in the best/safest way; safe from a physical and spacial standpoint, but also an emotional and mental standpoint?

“These are real concerns that we need to be aware of and observe. We have a tendency as Midwesterners to have a blue color, tough-it-out, mentality. I think that we need to really reflect on that.

“If you’re feeling sick, if you have a sore throat, cough, etc., then maybe stay home a day or two. That goes against our mentality, but maybe we need to take a step back and realize it’s OK to miss a day of work, school, practice, if that means in the long run you’re healthier for it.”

He realizes that is easier said than done.

“That would require a huge change in our perception, and I am probably as guilty of this attitude as anyone,” Skinner said. “But it may be time to acknowledge we can take better care of ourselves and in the process take better care of those around us.”

Like others, Skinner knows it’s merely speculation as to whether there will be a season and – if so – when it would start and how it will look different from previous years.

“What we know is that at this time there is a strong desire and intention for there to be a return to school in August and with that a fall-sport season,” he said. “I’m working with that in mind.

“That’s all I can do at this point. If/when that changes, we will adjust.”

Retz said in one respect this year will be like all others:  There will be a need to deal with the unexpected.

“Each year brings different challenges and it will be fun to take these on one day at a time,” Retz said. “Distance running takes time.

“We’ll deal with any bump in the road there may be, but those bumps only help us learn and grow.”

The key word, Wilson said, is optimism.

“I have to stay positive and say there will be a season,” Wilson said. “I can’t imagine a fall without football.”

If the green light is given for competition, Anderson knows one fact for certain.

“We will be ready to play,” she said. “All athletes just want to get started, which might be a positive out of this whole deal.

“They will not take for granted anymore that things just always happen how they want it to. They know their lives can change that quickly now.”

The post High school athletes return for team workouts with coronavirus guidelines in place appeared first on .