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The county delayed fall sports competition, but teams can still practice.
MACON, Ga. — The Bibb County School District delayed fall sports competition indefinitely while it evaluate the COVID-19 situation. That doesn’t necessarily affect football season quite yet, but softball competition was put on pause before it could ever really begin.
Dugouts sit empty, helmets unworn, bats unused.
“We were looking forward to being able to play. Today (Tuesday) was actually supposed to be our first game,” said Jennifer Raymond, softball coach at Central High School. “You gotta follow the experts advice and you know even though it’s a tough decision. You gotta listen to what they’re saying.”
Instead all Bibb County softball coaches can do is tend to their fields. Last Thursday Bibb County decided to postpone fall sports competition. The pandemic has already hit the Chargers hard. The team only has 11 players because they could hold tryouts in May.
Amanda Maddox over at Rutland feels Raymond’s pain. Her team has 16 players, nearly all of them returning players.
“Trying to get girls interested has been a challenge. I think a lot of our numbers are down because of that because we couldn’t see them and talk to them and meet with them,” Maddox said.
The postponement means no games, although teams can still practice, but both Raymond and Maddox have put practice on pause for the moment until more information is available. Maddox plans to meet with her players to decide how to proceed.
“We’re going to decide on this together. How many days we want to practice and let them know that we could start back at any point,” Maddox said.
Maddox said she knows if the competition does return, it doesn’t mean it will stay.
“They know if they get on the field it could be their last game and it could have nothing to do with our county or it’s just the circumstances period,” Maddox said.
Softball is one sport that almost naturally socially distances, but both coaches agree their sport’s postponement is a casualty of the big one that isn’t, football.
“You don’t want to be selfish and want the things you want, but in the long run you have to do what’s safe for all of the kids,” Raymond said.
Coach Maddox has postponed games for the next two weeks with the hope of rescheduling them, but like all Bibb County coaches, all they can do is wait and see. The idea of allowing sports like softball, volleyball or cross country to continue is not off the table, according to the coaches conversations with their athletic directors.
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