wabashalwaysfights

Serious, legitimate question about the notion of not allowing at least one parent/guardian for all student-athletes in to watch these games: what happens if a student-athlete, let's say a Junior, sustains a serious injury during play? Typically, you would find that student-athlete's parents/guardians to disclose the nature of the injury, treatment, provide options, etc. I understand that there are times where a student-athlete's parents/guardians aren't there to begin with for whatever reason, but in this case you are denying them access. Maybe there are no repercussions, but it still is something that needs to be considered in would think.

For what seems like the umpteenth year in a row, the weather could not be better. It always seemed like 15 years ago that the weather turned super hot and muggy like it was two weeks ago right around today.

So... nothing then... Pardon me while I get ready for practice tomorrow...

So instead of spinning our wheels, again, does anyone know: 1) did this meeting actually take place? Or when is it to take place if it is this evening? 2) if it has taken place, has anything DEFINITVE been released? Otherwise we literally could not beat a deader horse.

I think I read/heard somewhere that as of now it is 20 or 25%.

Zero chance a "swap" between football and baseball at the high school level is happening. If nothing else, its far too late in the calendar for that.

Thank you, I should have figured it had something to do with Horace Mann...

This begs an interesting question, where does the 180 number come from? I honestly don't know, I just always assumed that the old "traditional" calendar had close to that but I don't know that for a fact.

Here's a different question; what schools have already started? I saw this on the news last Thursday, Washington Township started 100% virtual but Greenfield-Central started in person. https://www.theindychannel.com/news/education/back-to-school/washington-township-and-greenfield-central-start-school-thursday Here's a more expansive story on Avon reopening on Wednesday. https://www.theindychannel.com/news/education/back-to-school/avon-students-return-to-the-classroom-for-a-different-kind-of-school-year

No I wasn't. Not only is the meme based on a cartoon, but it's based on the cartoon that has made its bones being over the top insensitive over the years. That's part of the reason why I wondered if they had done a Covid episode because it would not surprise me one bit if they had, and by the way, it probably would have been incredibly inappropriate and insensitive.

For some reason it won't let me edit my previous post, but if the meme offends you because you don't feel it takes the situation seriously enough, I get that, but it says nothing about death rate in the pic, that's all.

Not to nitpick, mainly because it ultimately doesn't matter anyway, but the meme says nothing about death rate. It says "...99.98% of us will remain." The number is still incorrect, but to not because of "bad math" related to death rate as you suggest.

I've watched just enough South Park to where I can actually hear Stan's dad saying this. Haven't watched for a long time though, have they actually done a Covid episode? Surely they haven't...

These days, there are no simple solutions, only simple thoughts... doesn't mean they're bad thoughts, just not simple in application...

Some observations from the past month's worth of workouts in relation to these: 1) When it comes to drill time, our current guidelines are to maintain social distancing (6 feet) during outdoor workouts. If we need to demonstrate a drill, for example, which requires that we break that distance, we must wear a mask. For my two cents; I have a mask hooked on one ear while I am outside of 6 feet so that if, and when, I have to demonstrate a drill I simply grab the other ear hook (or whatever the proper term for it is) and the mask is on long before I come within 6 feet. It was a bit tedious at first, but after a couple of days you just make it part of the norm. 2) As obvious by some of my posts, I am long winded by nature 😉 so this has actually forced me in the moment to be more succinct in my explanations when in close proximity to players (and masked) and/or be more pointed and focused in my verbal instructions from a distance. 3) With regards to games, I see where you are coming from, but you HAVE to have coaches on the sidelines. The chaos of anywhere from 20-60 teenagers running around on the sideline without adults with them is... unimaginable. That said, I think that the IHSAA extending the sideline box for players will help, and again, our current guidance mandates masking when you are within 6 feet, so as long as coaches on the sidelines are masked it seems as though healthcare professionals are, to a degree okay with that.

After looking at the study, a couple things jump to mind: 1) None of that seems all that surprising, unfortunately... 2) Pages 9, 10, and 11 of the study reference "Historical Data," does the study cite where that data comes from? Its' probably there somewhere and I just missed it.

I'm curious as to what you mean by this... social distancing or something additional?

I do not feel the least bit bad or unintelligent for following the safety protocols put into place by our athletic trainer, guided by the hospital system he works through and our local school board, to safely conduct a season in within the normal calendar year. We have conducted these workouts for four weeks now and while I recognize that in other areas of the state they have felt it necessary to cease workouts for health concerns, our area, the West Central portion of the state, currently has not seen any such closures of workouts. My hope is that we continue to safely move forward as such and if that changes, we will change accordingly. Further, I, for one, do not feel that you are a "bad guy;" I believe your opinion to be misguided and ultimately incorrect. I take offense to your assertion that by nature of my opinion that I am either uncaring or unintelligent, but I don't think you are a "bad guy" no more than I think anyone else who is in favor a spring season is.

Well, he didn't even understand what list, so maybe a little. And you sound like someone who simply does not understand what you are asking 14-18 year olds to do by moving football to the spring. Also, as coaches, we do care. We care about our student-athletes' health and well-being. We care about our opponents in the same way. We care about our fellow coaches. That is why we adhere to a wide variety of health and safety protocols for a variety of issues, including transmission of any and all illnesses. This is why we are currently changing our coaching methods to include social distancing and the use of masks. This is why we are currently sanitizing any shared surfaces immediately after use. This is why we go through Covid pre-screenings every day before workouts. And we do these things regardless of our personal views on the pandemic because we care about our student-athletes. You can sit there and scream into the wind for a spring season all you want, that's fine, you do you, you can even continue to argue that a spring season would be safer, again that is fine. But I would respectfully ask that you do not dilute our efforts to protect our student-athletes by implying that we don't care, because we obviously do.

I'm firmly in the Pat McAfee camp that "kickers are people too" (at least I think he coined that phrase), but playing soccer and kicking for the football team, depending on the programs in question, really is not the same as playing another position on the field. For example, two of the less than 5 I know of was at my first coaching stop and were soccer players who kicked for us. The first was very good, and our special teams benefited greatly from him doing both. That said, he was with us for about 15-30 minutes a week prior to Friday night. I would work him out on his own before or after his practice, often times without even being with the rest of the team. Not ideal, but we made it work. Unfortunately, the first young man sustained a rather serious injury on the pitch (I think a compound leg fracture if memory serves) and he recruited another of his soccer buddies to take his place. Again, the second young man was very good and also was much younger, I think a freshman. (As a side note; by the time that freshman was a Senior, he was only playing football, and became a two way starter in addition to kicker. I had taken another job by that point, but one of my fellow coaches there said that the student-athlete just enjoyed football better and he didn't like splitting time.) I serve as our head track coach and have tried to work out the scheduling to have kids do both baseball/softball and track in the spring and it is a nightmare; still haven't been able to make it work. No animosity with the other coaches, kids are willing, dates just never match up. I've never seen the other two combos, so I don't know there.

Actually, at least in our area, this isn't as common as you'd think. I've lived/coached in this area for most of my life and can count on one hand the number of kids who played football and another fall sport in the same season.

Add "let me get this straight" to the list? Also, the phrase "...potentially the nation by that time will have a handle on covid..." is loaded in countless ways...

This actually makes a lot of sense. Most of the chain gangs I have seen are actually dads of current players, which would be... problematic perhaps... but from a "bubble" standpoint it makes sense.

This is correct.

Worth the grind that @psaboy referenced. You will lose some younger kids to physical and mental burnout. I know there is a strong contingent on here who thinks a spring football season would be fine, and it may be for some kids and programs, especially current Seniors, obviously, and bigger programs. But for underclassmen and especially smaller programs a spring season is just not that simple. Even with two shortened seasons, there's still a number of ancillary issues to sort through. Each season would need at least two weeks of practice before competition begins, how do football coaches handle the Spring Break crowd (which having coached in both the fall and spring seasons incandescent assure you is TOTALLY different from even your week long fall breaks), how do they handle the new dynamic with winter and spring coaches. Some consideration also needs to be given to how many student-athletes are not "football first" multiple sport athletes. If I am a "baseball first" guy who plays football because it is fun and doesn't conflict with baseball season too much, I am likely not playing football in the spring, even if the seasons are separated a la what Illinois is doing. If I sustain a mild injury in the fall, I have the winter months to rehabilitate that injury and be pretty close to full strength by tr he time baseball rolls around in the spring. The Illinois schedule takes that away: now if I sustain even a mild injury it has a big impact on my baseball season. Basketball teams may see this too where they lose guys off their roster who are "football first" and play basketball because it doesn't really effect their traditional football season. Bow prevalent would these issues be? Depends on the size of your school and how many multiple sport athletes you have. Also, if I am a baseball or track coach in Illinois I am ticked about their schedule. For some, and I would hope this is a small crowd, selfishly I just lost half of my summer. Next, I think their overall participation rates will be way down. This may not be for lack of interest but simply because most parents take time off from work in June for vacation and that time is often worked into their schedule months or years in advance. Many reserve their spots at vacation spots years in advance and I think this past spring break proved that people are going to vacation even in the middle of a pandemic. Baseball coaches specifically are going to have to contend with travel baseball now more than ever. Again, I am apparently on somewhat of an island here and I get that which is why I have refrained from posting about it as much. I could be totally wrong; things could go off without a hitch in Illinois, Virginia, and New Mexico. Participation may actually go up, coaches may work in perfect harmony, rainbows, unicorns, etc, but I just don't see it. I want football, I think it is safe to play now, I do not want our seniors to miss their last season, they have definitely earned it, but not at the expense of the long term health of the game. Fully admit I may be wrong, but there it is.