A Day in the Life - Coach

A Day in the Life of a COACH Covid Edition

By Amy Weber ‘96

All spring and summer leading up to soccer officially starting, I was worried. When things shut down in March due to COVID-19, athletics was one of the many things turned upside down. Normally I would meet with my team in the spring and have a call out meeting so we could see who would be coming out in the fall along with any new incoming Freshmen. That didn’t happen like it normally did; instead it was Zoom. I should have known then that things wouldn’t be like they always were.

As the summer got closer, I began to get more nervous about not having a season. Conditioning normally started June 1st for us. There were many conversations between me and Mr. Herrmann just trying to see if any news was good news. We were finally told we could start in July. This was a total relief but still a very concerning time because what would it look like?

As a coaching staff we began to establish what our protocol would look like for girls’ soccer. Each group would come in and we would check their temperatures before every session. They would go to the bleachers and place their bags and water on their designated spot, all 6 feet apart. They would arrive in masks and stay in masks until we started. We were constantly sanitizing equipment. Each girl was assigned a penny for practice and in some cases 4 different colors. We collected all the dirty ones in a laundry bag each night and they were taken to be washed. I never have done so much laundry in a soccer season.

I feel that our team had a good handle on things. I think our staff and team went above and beyond to be cautious. We were fortunate that one of our parents owns a store called Sweet Emotions. She made us our own sanitizer and each girl was given their own bottle. We could refill them at any time. We also as coaches carried larger ones to sanitize benches and such when we played away from Mater Dei. Each girl was given a bag that we clipped onto their backpack to house their sanitizer and mask.

Honestly once we established a routine it became much easier. Things were certainly different. This was one of the most uncertain and difficult times to not only be a coach but also a player. Every day we would wait to see who we might be missing due to contracting the virus or coming in close contact with someone that was positive.