Still, no matter how different it looked on Friday, the feeling of playing sports made up for all of the COVID-19 changes.

WAYLAND — For the first time since March, organized high school athletic activities took place on Friday around the state.

For most of the student-athletes and coaches, Friday marked the first time standing side-by-side for nearly 200 days. At Wayland High School, there was a palpable feel in the air of how thrilled players, coaches, athletic directors and athletic trainers were just to be back, no matter how different it may have looked.

Make no mistake, it looked very different too. In Wayland, the boys soccer team checked in at a table and received a bib number before being allowed to go to a designated area to get dressed and warm up.

Still, no matter how different it looked, the feeling of playing sports made up for all of the COVID-19 changes.

“Oh my gosh, this is something we’ve been waiting for since March,” Wayland coach David Gavron said. “Really, all the student-athletes, they’ve been waiting so long for this day. Selfishly, I’m just so excited to be back out here with the guys. We got great numbers – about 74 guys – came out to try out and it’s just awesome to have this chance.”

The modifications for soccer this fall are quite startling. The game is going to look completely different, but none of that matters to the teams that started getting back together on Friday.

“Being a captain this year and seeing so much debate over whether we would ever have a season or not, it’s just so great to get the all clear,” Wayland senior Zach Campana said of being back out with the boys, “even playing in masks.”

“When school shut down in March, none of us really knew what would happen,” added junior Ryan MacDonald. “I play club soccer and my season got shut down. Me personally, I thought the fall would be more normal than this, and then when we found out it just wasn’t getting any better it was stressful for a while, and to be out here now it’s a sense of normalcy.”

For a Wayland program that thinks state championship or bust from August to November in a normal year, it’ll be an adjustment tempering expectations with no postseasons in any high school sports season this fall. The Warriors have won three state titles in the past seven years, but it’ll be all about enjoying time with each other this season.

“Honestly, we’re (as) motivated as ever, too,” said senior goalie Max Brande. “At least being able to get out here and play, a lot of us weren’t sure if we were going to get a season or not, so, the fact we do get a season is great. We’re as motivated as ever, we’re still fighting for something whether it’s a (state championship) or not. We feel like we missed out on a great opportunity last year to win a state championship even though our record wasn’t where we like it to be.

“This year was going to be a really big prove-it season for us. So, we’re still fighting the best we can and we’re pretty sure we still have a good shot at winning this year.”

Whether it was teammates rallying around junior Lucas Thompson as he was the last man standing in a grueling “beep” running test, or just the overall energy around the new turf field in Wayland with the field hockey and girls soccer teams practicing too, for at least one day on Friday, everything felt right again.

Gavron knows that this season is going to be unlike any other in the 13 years he’s been coaching, but the message will always remain the same.

“They know this is a special opportunity that we still get to play,” he said. “We get to play some great DCL competition with a 10-game season and just enjoy being together. We’ve really pushed out to the boys that they need to be flexible. They have to really be mindful and considerate of others, and then the final message is borrowed from Bill Belichick.

“We want them to do their job. Do their job in the classroom, do their job here, do their job at home, those simple messages from my perspective hopefully will keep us focused.”