Football, soccer and volleyball in the spring?
You’re not dreaming.
In just the span of a few days, athletes around the Recorder area have made the transition from the winter season to the Fall II season, which was put in place for sports that were deemed too risky to play in the traditional fall season either by the MIAA COVID Task Force or by local school boards.
Teams in the Pioneer Valley were permitted to begin practice on Monday — just two days after the winter season concluded — with the Fall II season running until April 25. Football, soccer, volleyball and indoor track are the sports offered during the season in Franklin County, with some schools still awaiting school board approval to compete.
The Franklin Tech football team had its first practice on Monday, but it certainly didn’t look like a typical football workout.
With a plethora of snow covering the practice field, the Eagles held conditioning work outside in the parking lot behind the Turners Falls school. They were back out there on Tuesday.
We worked hard today,” senior Sam Lapine said. “I wasn’t really ready for the cold. It’s not ideal but we’re going to make it work.”
As with all football teams in the state, the first couple days of practice are non-contact with no pads, the same way it had been during a normal season. Football teams in the area were permitted to practice in the typical fall season, though they were only able to do some football work while most were strictly conditioning.
Not practicing on a field is certainly an adjustment for the players, but Tech players said if that’s what’s available to them, they aren’t complaining about it.
“The parking lot is definitely weird,” senior Austin Demers said. “We just have to make do with what we have at the moment. As long as we’re practicing, that’s what matters. It doesn’t matter if we’re on the pavement or on the grass if we’re doing what we need to do.”
With games not set to begin until the end of the month, teams will have time to prepare, install their systems and get into shape before competitions begins.
For fellow seniors Brooks Medeiros and Brianna Snyder, not having games to play in their final season with the Eagles was a real possibility. To have the chance to play is something they aren’t taking for granted, no matter that the season was delayed over six months.
“We’re just excited to be able to play this season,” Medeiros said. “There was no guarantee.”
“I was nervous not getting my senior year,” Snyder added. “I’ve been playing so long I wanted to go out with a bang and be able to play.”
Here’s a look at what’s going on with other schools in the Recorder area:
Turners Falls is once again participating in a co-op with host school Franklin Tech for both boys and girls soccer, with the Eagles also offering volleyball this upcoming season.
The Thunder will have their own girls volleyball team.
Greenfield began practice this week, with its football, boys and girls soccer and volleyball teams all participating in the Fall II season.
The Mahar football and volleyball teams started practice Monday, with both the boys and girls soccer teams set to take the field Wednesday. Pioneer’s boys and girls soccer teams and volleyball team also began practice this week.
Mohawk Trail is planning to offer both boys and girls soccer as well as volleyball, and is waiting on school board approval to begin practice March 11. Frontier received school committee approval Tuesday night for practices in football, boys and girls soccer and volleyball. The Board of Health will discuss playing games in a meeting Friday night.
Athol plans to offer football, boys soccer, girls soccer and girls volleyball, with teams starting practice this week though football is still awaiting clearance to be able to have contact this season.
Athol, Mohawk Trail and Pioneer are the three schools planning to compete against one another for an “indoor” track season. The races, set to be held in April, will take place outdoors, though runners will be competing in the events indoor track typically offers.
Modifications are in place for each sport to make it as safe as possible, and all players will be required to wear masks at all times.
“We made adjustments in the fall and had a success first season,” MIAA President Jeffrey Granatino said in a statement released in January. “We made additional modifications for the winter and our student athletes have been actively engaged since December. Now we are hopeful that with the guidance from the Governor’s office and of EEA, along with the work of our various committees, that we will be able to have a safe and successful Fall II Season.”
As it’s currently scheduled, the volleyball games will begin around St. Patrick’s Day, with football and soccer not starting until the end of the month.
For the outdoor sports, weather may be the biggest factor as to when games begin.