Sports

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Fauquier Times | March 18, 2020

SPRING SPORTS IN PERIL Athletes ‘heartbroken’ by coronavirus ban, 103 events postponed

Stories by Fred Hodge Special o he Times

The coronavirus pandemic is wrecking local athletic aspirations, as the Virginia High School League suspended all interscholastic competition last Friday until March 30 at the earliest.

The developments have left the high school sports scene in limbo.

Coaches cannot have face-to-face contact with athletes or use school practice facilities. Schedules could resume March 30, but will they?

“I would be surprised if it’s only two weeks,” Kettle Run baseball coach Ty Thorpe said. “It won’t surprise me if ... VHSL ends up canceling the whole season.”

“I’ll give you an example of how the kids are feeling,” said Fauquier High activities director Mark Ott. “My child (senior Zoe, a three-year softball letterman) comes home (Friday) night, and I’m sitting there watching TV. She comes in and starts bawling.

“I’m ‘What’s wrong, bud.’ ‘Dad, this is my senior year, and I may not get to play a softball game. I may not get to go to my Senior Prom, and I may not get to have a graduation ceremony.’

“When you look at it from an a 17-18-year old’s perspective, this is their career. It’s hitting a lot of kids very hard,” Ott said sympathetically. Liberty High girls lacrosse coach Amy Lacey said the sports shutdown came down during practice, and she toned down the workout.

“I switched gears and we just enjoyed the heck out of the weather, the team and lacrosse. I didn’t need to pound them with drills and sprints. I needed their take away to be how great the game is, how great their teammates are and use that to push themselves at home on their own,” Lacey said.

Athletic directors met last week to take some proactive steps. Several scenarios are now in place depending on how much time is missed.

“We all knew it was a possibility to happen,” said Kettle Run activities director Paul Frye.

“We said if we can’t get the (full)

FILE PHOTO How many Fauquier-Liberty rivalry games will be wiped out this spring?

THE TOTAL SO FAR: 103 EVENTS MISSED

A look at postponed events by Fauquier, Liberty and Kettle Run sports teams from March 16-28 due to the VHSL ban on sports due to the coronavirus. FAUQUIER (35 total): Softball (5), Girls tennis (5), boys tennis (5), baseball (4), girls soccer (4), boys soccer (4), boys lacrosse (4), track (3), girls lacrosse (2) LIBERTY (34 total): Baseball (6), girls soccer (5), softball (5), girls tennis (4), boys soccer (4), boys lacrosse (4), girls lacrosse (4), track (2), boys tennis (no team) KETTLE RUN (34 total): Softball (5), girls tennis (4), boys tennis (4), baseball (4), girls soccer (4), boys soccer (4), boys lacrosse (4), girls lacrosse (3), track (2)

round-robin schedule in, that both regional representatives would be determined from the [postseason] tournament. We obviously won’t make up non-district games from the first two weeks.”

The best-case scenario is playing the entire district slate. The next option would be at least one trip through the league.

The original VHSL decree included the possibility of practice sessions based on upon local decisions. That option disappeared less than 90 minutes later when Gov. Northam closed schools. “Once he shut down schools, that ended the option of having practices as well,” Ott said. “For liability reasons, we don’t want any athletes on school grounds without supervision. If that happens, we have to run them out.”

Each school was opened for three hours Monday morning to allow athletes and the rest of the students to retrieve equipment, books, clothing and other items from lockers and classrooms.

Both Frye and Ott said they had no control over players’ holding impromptu workouts among themselves, but no coach may be present.

Virus fears move fast to wipe out high school sports

In a span of less than four turbulent hours Friday, March 13, the athletic programs at Fauquier, Kettle Run and Liberty went from full speed to dead in the water.

The county’s three public high schools were wrapping up midterm exams for a late-morning dismissal when the first of several rapid-fire notifications happened. Here’s how it went down: • Local activities directors learned the Northwestern District member schools in the City of Winchester (Handley) and Frederick County (James Wood, Millbrook, Sherando) would close for two weeks, postponing all athletic events. • Soon the county’s teachers were told in faculty meetings that Monday would be a teachers’ work day with no classes as the central office continued to evaluate the coronavirus situation, but practices could be held. • Less than 20 minutes later, word arrived that Fauquier County had done an abrupt about-face and would close for two weeks until March 30. That notice also permitted athletic practices during the classroom hiatus, with possible events against non-Winchester schools. • Less than 60 minutes elapsed before the next blow arrived as the Virginia High School League halt

“It won’t surprise me if ... VHSL ends up canceling the whole season.”

-TY THORPE Kettle Run baseball coach

“The nice thing is that communication doesn’t have to stop. And technology is on our side. We can still push each other, challenge each other, and encourage each other. I told them to stay tuned for workouts and challenges!”

-AMY LACEY Liberty girls lacrosse coach

“They don’t have anything else to do, so maybe they will play tennis.”

-ELLEN ALLEN Kettle Run tennis coach

“Practice will be very difficult for some because they do not have their own implements such as a shot put or discus at home.”

-QUENTIN JONES Fauquier High track coach

For now, the two-week pause would permit resumption of practice and games March 30. Several county teams are slated to play March 30, but that is unrealistic, Frye said,

“We’ll probably have at least three days of practice before we play games,” Frye predicted.

If Fauquier County schools reopen March 30, the original calendar shows one week of classes before the April 4-13 spring break kicks in.

Normally, only the Kettle Run and Fauquier baseball squads compete over the vacation, playing in the annual Let’s Play Two event in Prince William County.

ed all athletic and extracurricular activities until March 30. Practices still could be held because some school districts were still open. • Mere minutes passed before Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued an edict closing all public schools for a minimum of two weeks. His decision caused the Fauquier school system to call a halt to all practices during closure. • Friday’s tumultuous series of announcements ended with President Donald Trump’s 3 p.m. declaration of a national emergency.