ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - Last Spring, KMOX News reported on the measures athletic programs were trying to take to get young people back in the game during the pandemic. Parents, coaches and players have dealt with temperature checks, limits on locker rooms, masking requirements, equipment sanitizing, travel restrictions, quarantines, cancellations and last minute rescheduling. As KMOX News asks "When will it end?" sports programs tell us, they're prepared to do what it takes to just keep playing in the coming months.
"I know we're going full blow into summer basketball. But we'll keep the masks on as long as we're told we have to. And we'll keep whatever procedures we have here at Kirkwood High School, because it worked," says Kirkwood High School Girls Basketball Head Coach Monica Tritz. Tritz doesn't want a repeat of the last year. COVID-19 interfered with not just one, but two seasons.
The Kirkwood ladies were set to go to the Final Four in the Spring of 2020. On the eve of the tournament, Tritz got the call that her team would not be participating. "Devastation doesn't describe it," explains Tritz. "I had four awesome kids that deserved to be there more than anything. Four seniors. And then you have to make that phone call to them."
The next season was stalled as well. Tritz would typically start work outs with her new squad in the summer. Last year, those were cancelled. "These girls... almost all of them didn't go shoot on their own. I had probably two that I can tell you were working out. so then it's like starting over. You start from scratch, where usually when you get your kids in November, you already have a base down."
Once they did get back on the court, Tritz says they tested a multitude of masks and followed every guideline to ensure they could continue to play. "I'm hoping next year we don't have to wear masks, but who knows what that mandate will be," adds Tritz. "I would really like to see consistency all throughout the area... You go across the river it's different, you go to St. Louis City it's different, you go to Jeffco it's different. It's just St. Louis County that has their own rules, so I'd like to see consistency. I think that's fair. Fair for all kids"
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The basketball season was disjointed at the college level as well. KMOX Sports Reporter Joe Pott is the "Voice of the Cougars" at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. "They missed 35 days because of positive tests throughout the program. And they had to make all of those games up. Because of a backlog in the schedule they played 18 games in 37 days."
Restrictions interrupted recruitment. Training and travel routines were in flux. Now a growing number of universities around the country are saying students and faculty will be required to get a coronavirus vaccine before they can step foot on campuses this fall. KMOX Reporter Megan Lynch asked Joe if he thinks the athletes at SIUE would be willing to be vaccinated to ensure a smoother season next year. "Ultimately I think if it is something that is going to help sports get back to normal and their routine bet back to where they would expect it, I would think that most of them would be open to that idea"
Even with challenges squads did make it onto the court. But the experience was different. Instead of the roar of the crowds, gymnasiums echoed with the squeak of shoes. "A team can get some momentum from that crowd and they can get a lift, and that's not there."
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Some players will get a redo. The NCAA is offering another year of eligibility due to COVID. "We have a women's women's basketball player - a local player from Bethalto - would have been her senior year. Because of the extra year of eligibility she's going to come back another year."
Meanwhile, athletic programs will have to wait for more guidance on next season. "A year ago we were saying, I can't wait to get to the summer when things start opening up, and then it was maybe in fall, and every time we said that it didn't happen." Pott says, on the plus side, athletes learned to be flexible and athletic programs developed practices to mitigate exposure. All lessons that could transcend sports and COVID-19.
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