COVID Can't Contain the Cougars

Just a few months ago amidst the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic some very dedicated cougar athletes were still getting their work in on Oliveira Field. The spring season was canceled, and it was a devastating blow. These athletes still wanted to get their work in. No one knocked their dedication, but it was less than stellar behavior on closed school grounds during a pandemic. No rebuttal, no reaction, the situation was dealt with in a very respectable manner.

Flash forward a few months with a flattened curve and guidelines in place, these cougar athletes are back getting their work in. Masks, six feet of social distancing, and proper sanitation techniques have allowed local high school athletes to prepare for their seasons that we all hope will still take place. With so much uncertainty you have to commend these young adults for staying ready for something that may not even take place.

I was able to interview senior Old Colony football players Ryan McGuiggan and Austin Mendes and get their take on the upcoming season. What challenges do they face? How do you prepare for something like this? Not only is there a struggle with athletics, but possibly adapting to blended or completely online learning. This is a lot to put on a high school seniors that just want to enjoy their final year.

In reference to the challenges students will face with COVID-19 the senior Mendes stated "It really is going to depend on whether we are in school or online. I know that online school is tough for some people because they're used to that face to face interaction. In terms of football it's going to be tougher to build chemistry if we aren't with each other every day."

I can attest to how close of a community Old Colony is. You know everyone there, and even if you don't personally "know" someone, you know of them. Not being able to interact with fellow students every day, especially teammates, would be very unfortunate. It very well could be one of many hurdles these high school athletes have to get over.

Senior fullback Ryan McGuiggan added "It's going to be harder to reel everyone in too. Because those double sessions are really where we get to run through plays and come together. If the season is delayed or postponed it could be tough to get everyone on HUDL to review plays."

I also touched on the fact that as senior leaders they don't only lead by what they say, but they also lead by what they do. Both agreed that this is also part of the challenge of limited face-to-face interaction.

"It's trial and error. It's something nobody has seen before. It really is something new." McGuiggan stated.

I was also able to get Head Football Coach Brandon Mendez's thoughts on the barriers for the upcoming season. "There's a lot of things that we are going to have to workout. There's transportation, facilities can be an issue, sanitation with the removal of the water corral and replacing it with individual bottled water. Maintaining social distancing on the sidelines or at practices. We are still waiting on some direction on how we are going to move forward."

I touched on the fact that many leagues have returned with guidelines in place and set a blueprint for their respective sport. The NFL and NCAA Football have yet to release any of their guidelines which makes things even tougher for the future of high school football.

One of the guidelines that has been discussed for the NFL though is face guards that will prevent or lessen the spread of the "droplets" that COVID spreads through. I asked if the Head Coach had looked into that at all. "We've seen some new products out there that attach to the face mask just like the eye shield but under the lower part of the face shield around the mouth area. There's the possibility of the breathable mask underneath the helmet also." Mendez added.

In terms of the sanitation process, football would be unique in the sense that not everyone brings their shoulder pads and helmets home to be washed. I asked Mendez if he believed it would be a possible benefit to have a health careers shop in regards to sanitation techniques for gear and such, "You know that's a really good idea, and it could be a cross-curriculum type of thing. As phenomenal as our health careers department is though I'm sure they'll have their hands full at the beginning of the year. That goes for any shop or class too, we're all going to have to adapt." Mendez stated.