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STAUNTON – Terrell Mickens doesn’t talk to his players about the possibility of not having a basketball season.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about it. The Staunton High School boys coach worries if his team will play games this year. If they do play, he worries about how much they’ll practice before games start or if they’ll get any regular open gyms.
For now, the Storm are having open gyms, but nothing about it is normal. The players have to practice social distancing as much as possible, and equipment is being disinfected much more than it ever was before the pandemic. It’s certainly safer for everyone involved, but slows down the flow of a team practice.
And then there is the uncertainty surrounding if games will be played.
“I talk with my guys about adversity all the time,” Mickens said. “Overcoming. I try to get through their heads that you can only control what you can control. That’s the way I played as a player and that’s the way I coach.”
Mickens never mentions not playing to the players, though.
“You kind of just take it day by day and prepare as though you’re going to have a season,” he said. “I don’t talk about not having a season with my players ever. I always tell them the season could start tomorrow, the season could start in January. You just never know.”
That could be the motto of the 2020-21 high school sports season in Virginia — “You just never know.” The Virginia High School League (VHSL) has set an official start date for the season, with basketball and sideline cheer beginning practice Dec. 7 and other sports in season one (the traditional winter sports) beginning Dec. 14. The first basketball games can be played Dec. 21.
If you look at the Shenandoah and Valley district websites, there are even games scheduled. All seasons are shortened from what they would be in a typical season.
Of course, all of this comes with a giant “maybe.”
Under current Phase 3 conditions in Virginia, sports deemed to be at a high risk for infection of COVID-19 most likely couldn’t be played, although VHSL spokesperson Mike McCall said Wednesday that his organization hasn’t explicitly been told by the governor’s office that they won’t be allowed to play.
Sports in the high-risk category include basketball, football, volleyball, wrestling, soccer and competition cheer.
If Virginia is still in Phase 3 when sports begin, McCall said that Billy Haun, the VHSL’s executive director, will advocate on behalf of schools to the governor’s office to relax those guidelines.
So while there is an official start date, that leaves some sports uncertain if they’ll have a season.
“I think there is only one way to attack all of this and that’s to assume we will be playing in February,” said Fort Defiance football coach Dan Rolfe.
Football, typically a fall sport, is now in the VHSL’s season two, which can play its first of six regular season games on Feb. 22.
“Right now our focus has been getting kids back into a routine and we are focusing on the weight room,” Rolfe said. “At the end of our workouts we take the kids out and do a little work with them.”
Rolfe and his staff have been focusing on creating a sense of normalcy for his players. That’s difficult not only because practices are different, but so are school days. In Augusta County, most students are taking part in a hybrid model of instruction, meaning they’re attending school in person twice a week and learning virtually three days a week. There are also some students taking part in 100% virtual learning.
In Staunton and Waynesboro, students are in a fully virtual learning environment. All three school divisions have said that, under their current models, students could play sports even if they were attending class virtually.
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“All kids will be able to practice/play each day regardless of the A/B schedule or virtual,” said Greg Troxell, Augusta County’s director of athletics. “Even when they are not in the building they are doing work each day and are counted as present.”
Athletic directors in Staunton and Waynesboro said that is the case in their school divisions also. Staunton’s David Tibbs said students would be allowed to play if school is still virtual, and Waynesboro’s Jeremiah Major said that’s also true in his school.
“We are still having sports if we are all virtual,” he said. “Even if we go hybrid, like Augusta County, and a student-athlete still chooses to be all virtual, they can participate in practices and games.”
For coaches, all of this means they have to do the best they can to put the uncertainty out of their minds.
“We’ll just be prepared for whatever,” Mickens said. “And be ready to go when it starts.”
Follow Patrick on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Email Patrick with story suggestions or comments at phite@newsleader.com
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