Despite closures around state, some fall sports able to carry on through safeguards
In this photo, Kennedy Benesh, Brinley Bettcher, Ashley Rock, Savanna Sandstrom, and Ciarra Prill, celebrate a victory. Oshkosh United has taken multiple precautions in order to have a safe and fun season amid this pandemic.
Despite the current circumstances of COVID-19, young athletes are finding any possible way to play the game they love. Over the summer and fall, many private sports leagues have been formed among teams in the Fox Valley, and many athletes joined after hearing that school sports would be postponed. But some other schools, such as Lourdes and Omro, still have fall sports running with players and coaches taking precautions and still getting out on the field.
Lourdes Academy football coach, Kevin Wolpat, described the multiple precautions the football program is taking to maintain a safe sporting environment for athletes.
“We are keeping our JV and Varsity teams separated: we make sure there is a 48-hour break after a game before the team gets together,” he said. “We wash the football as soon as a drill is done to help prevent the spread and also got rid of a lot of extra stuff our team would do outside of football to minimize contact.”
Tim Kaull, a senior football player for Lourdes, still feels safe amid the pandemic due to safety precautions that are taken.
“I feel very comfortable,” he said. “During the game, we are split up, and even during playtime we are with the other team or our own for a short amount of time.”
Along with schools playing, many private leagues have been meeting around the Fox Valley. West senior Sam Blaskowski was a part of a baseball league called the “Babe Ruth League” among a few Oshkosh and Fox Valley teams, but says there were no major safeguards taken in order to play.
“There were not any extra precautions we had to take,” he said. “Unless someone tested positive, then your team would have to quarantine for two weeks. But overall I felt very comfortable playing because baseball doesn’t really have a lot of close contact.”
Junior Riley Taylor participated in “Friday Night Showcase,” a football tournament located in Ashwaubenon among many regional teams. He enjoyed the chance to get out there to play the game he loves.
“Because there was no football this year, we were excited to at least get a little taste of Friday Night Lights,” he said.
Precautions that are being taken depend on the sport. Lourdes senior Peter Chartier says soccer practices have not been that heavily restricted.
“Since the beginning of the season, we have been practicing in groups without masks and using precautions against covid after practices such as sanitizing uniforms and other equipment,” he said.
Oshkosh United has also made efforts to keep kids playing soccer. Coach Brian Casey described how the teams have to take many precautions following WYSA's return to play policy.
“The hardest thing we have faced is the schedule,” he said. “There are teams that have had to quarantine and shut down for 14 days. If the opposing team has to quarantine they may have to cancel a game as well.”
For senior Kennedy Benesh, playing soccer now during this unusual time is a great stress reliever and it’s so much more than just a game.
“This sport provides me with comfort, just because it feels so normal in such abnormal times,” she said.
The girl’s golf state tournament was held in late October, one of the few sports running this fall. Xavier senior Lauren Haen won the Division 2 state title, shooting a 78 in her last round to take the crown. “This season was normal except for the fact that we had to wear masks while warming up and the flags had to stay in the hole,” she said. “The state tournament is usually held at University Ridge in Madison, but the location was changed to Blackwolf Run in Kohler due to the pandemic.”
Haen, who has been to state all four years of her high school golf career, was not worried very much about close contact with others, due to the nature of the sport. Overall, she is appreciative that she was able to get out and play.
“With golf there is a lot of social distancing, so there wasn’t anything I was concerned about,” she said. “I was just grateful to have a season.”
Despite the many downsides of a pandemic, Wolplat values their time together much more, as it doesn’t last long.
“My appreciation for being together is as high as it's ever been,” he said. “Kids only get four years to play high school sports, and these opportunities don't last long, so it has continued to make me realize that you need to make the most of everything, because it can be over in the blink of an eye.”
By Drew Lasky and Zade Alzoubi
October 30th, 2020
Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 2