Both are glad to still have a season, be able to play

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — When Mountain View High School head football Coach Brian Crum got the news his team would still have a season, he was ecstatic.

“It’s what we hoped,” Crum told NewsChannel 21 Thursday. “It was the best possible option at this point.”

On Wednesday, OSAA announced it would shift fall sports to the spring and condense the winter and spring sports into 7-week seasons.

“To see seven weeks out of nine — I think for us we would have been happy with four or five, honestly,” Crum said.

The announcement also was welcomed as good news by soon-to-be Mountain View senior Luke Roberts, who is a multi-sport athlete. Roberts plays basketball, football and lacrosse.

In the OSAA’s new, condensed calendar, there is very little overlap between the winter, fall and spring sports seasons.

“I’m just thankful for every opportunity at this point,” Roberts said. “I’m glad we have a season. A lot of my friends and I have worked hard over past couple years, so we are just excited to get the chance to play.”

Teams in Oregon will not only have to adjust to a new season, but also a new climate. Fall sports typically start at the end of summer, but now they will be starting toward the end of winter.

“If we were doing this scenario two years ago, we would have 30 inches of snow on the ground,” Crum said. “I think in Central Oregon, it may give us an advantage if you’re playing teams from out of the area that have to come over here and deal with the weather.”