Aug. 24—Editor’s note: This article was published in “The Playbook,” a special publication from the Record-Eagle previewing the fall 2021 high school sports season. Click here to read The Playbook in its entirety online.
TRAVERSE CITY — Will Gaston looks forward to playing in his first TC Patriot Game this fall.
But, wait, didn’t the senior-to-be take the field in it last year?
Yes and no.
“When I think of the Patriot Game, I think of 10,000 people there,” said Gaston, a wide receiver and cornerback for the Traverse City West football team. “It was like going back to freshman football. There were only parents in the stands.”
Much like Gaston, many across the state look forward to a return to normalcy this fall after the coronavirus pandemic upended fall sports traditions and routines.
Programs across the region saw things very differently last year.
There was a lot missing from high school sports and football in particular — reduced fan capacity, no tailgating, no cheerleaders, no bands playing fight songs, no students getting rowdy with cow bells and whistles.
“Just the idea of teaching the kids the fight song and typically the band plays it and you sing it and it’s something that gets you excited for football,” said Traverse City Central head football coach Eric Schugars. “The fact that they didn’t hear that as a player or it was pre-recorded is like a right of passing those guys didn’t get.”
Athletic directors, coaches and players are upbeat when asked about the upcoming season and the opportunity to play fall sports as they always have been.
The optimism has led administrators to plan for a regular season, while the potential for a repeat of last year’s disruption looms.
“The challenge has been when to do what,” said Traverse City West athletic director Jason Carmien.
For instance, West ordered items in July for varsity football concession stands, but not freshman or JV.
The Titans will stick with e-ticketing for the fall season at least.
“It’s hard to believe we’re truly going back to normal, if that makes sense,” Carmien said. “Am I 100% sure? I don’t think anybody can say they are 100% sure. We’re planning on it and we’re hopeful. We’re planning as if it is 2019 and last year was an anomaly.”
TC West opens the football season against Midland at The Big House in Ann Arbor, part of a slate of high school games at the University of Michigan’s stadium. That game starts at 3:30 p.m., followed by Traverse City Central against DeWitt at 7 p.m.
Finding volunteers to work games and concessions has not been an issue for Glen Lake according to athletic director and interim Superintendent Mark Mattson. Mattson said the community has enthusiasm for returning to full-capacity football games.
The Lakers even floated the idea of creating a food truck for campus that can be moved from field to field as a part of the new normal.
Mattson said he worries about the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the effect it could have on fall sports, especially those indoors like volleyball.
“We are planning for full wide open schedules right now so if some protocols get put back in place I fear that volleyball, tennis and soccer will be limited to a maximum number of teams at a tournament,” Mattson said. “Those multi-team events in the fall outside are so much fun and are used to get more competition in a day, so if those happen to become limited again, that’ll be another little step back that I don’t want to see for kids.”
There were plenty of lessons learned in the past year according to Schugars and he said he has been reminding he players to keep the same awareness of their actions as they head into the next season.
“In the last 18 months there was so much change, so much adversity, so many things that happened, if you didn’t create and if you didn’t make make opportunities to grow in those moments, you missed the boat,” Schugars said.
Lifting of mask mandates excited soccer athletes who were forced to wear masks during outdoor games last year. Teams will still have to deal with contact tracing and outbreaks if players or coaches are not vaccinated but those who are will not have to quarantine following a negative test post-exposure this fall.
“We’ve got to have the plan for indoor and outdoor,” Mattson said. “I’m just getting a little bit nervous with what I’m seeing in the media with a spike in the cases because of that Delta variant so I’m really, really hoping you don’t have to take a step back backwards.”
Cheerleaders will rejoin bands on the sidelines and in the stands this fall, bringing the atmosphere back to where it’s traditionally been.
“I think the marching band adds a unique element to game days,” said TC West band director Chad Mielens. “Last year we were able to perform as a pep band at two late season games and prepared a halftime show we performed multiple times for our parents. However, it will be refreshing to have a return to some normalcy this fall.”
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