Standing Against Racism

LION’S PRIDE

Athletics in the Time of COVID-19

Athletic Director Scott McCarty ’76, P’02, P’05 reports that the challenges of keeping the Forman community safe did not prevent Forman athletes from enjoying a worthwhile fall season in 2020.

I couldn’t be more pleased with how our coaches and students reacted to the way COVID-19 changed sports at Forman this fall. The very important bubble we were in altered the School’s entire sports program. We didn’t have the regular rhythm of practice, home game, practice, away game, practice. Our coaches were very creative in devising things that kept the kids interested. The cross country team organized the campus Fun Run on November 7 that involved the entire school community. I made sure my boys’ varsity soccer team ran that day. The rock climbing group took the opportunity to build a new wall for others to use down the road.

As Athletic Director, I was very proud of the tenacity of our coaches. They fought through the limits of the situation, and the monotony, and made it work. The students made me happy, too. Most of them looked forward to athletics each day because it was a chance to get some exercise outside, enjoy time with friends, and forget about life with COVID-19 for a few hours.

Varsity Girls’ Volleyball Coach Kiana Hernandez had modest goals for the fall season and was grateful for the support of the Athletic Department.

I thought it would be great if we could find a way to

LION’S PRIDE

Athletics in the Time of COVID-19

maintain the players’ skills while keeping them in shape and practicing. Still, I wasn’t fully comfortable with extended periods of time in the gym, even with the doors open. But Athletics was really great about moving our sport outside. They got us outdoor nets and volleyballs. They painted lines for us. It was a change for a lot of the players, of course. But in the midst of all the disruption, I think it helped them to say, “Well, at least I get to play volleyball today.” It ended up working very well for us.

Coach of Girls’ Varsity Soccer Jon Davis saw a very clear silver lining in the limits placed on sports by COVID-19 last fall.

Our season had different phases based on the campus flag status. At the beginning, it was a lot of individual drill work because the students had to be spaced out and couldn’t be doing things together. That set-up was fine for a while but eventually the girls wanted to do more. I thought it was good for our team, however. Based on where we are as a program, it was great to be able to focus on individualized skill work without the disruption and pressure of a game being around the corner. It was nice to be able to concentrate on teaching them how to improve their fundamental dribbling, passing, and shooting skills. Once some of the restrictions were relaxed and we were able to start playing some small-sided games, it was clear that many of the girls had improved even more than they would have during a normal season. McCarty sums up the fall 2020 season this way: “From my perspective, my kids never stopped playing and, so, got better. All the teams did things this fall that they can build on when we start playing games again. I couldn’t be more proud of my coaching staff for their creativity and hard work this fall.”