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Coronavirus effect update: Montgomery Central soccer




MCHSSUBMITTED

MCHSSUBMITTED

Not everybody is affected equally by the COVID-19 pandemic summer.

After going 6-7 in 2019, the Montgomery Central girls soccer team lost a handful of seniors – including Madisen Hodges, who led the entire county with 33 goals scored. But they were prepared to rebuild and pick up the missing pieces before the offseason was all but shut down.

“Whatever the kids have been doing, I haven’t been a part of (it),” said coach Gary Gossett. “Before the dead period, my communication with the players that I know were on the roster was ‘Get off the couch, start running, do some foot skills, some things here and there.’ Other than that, I have not had any contact with my players pretty much at all.”

A self-described “old-school” coach, Gossett is not comfortable with taking practices online and instructing his team from afar. As a result, he is still unsure of what his complete roster may look like since he has not been able to meet his incoming freshmen yet.

With Tuesday’s announcement that the start of the season has officially been delayed – although to what extent remains unseen – Gossett’s main concern is that due to shutdowns, his athletes may not be in the necessary shape once the first game is played, whenever that might be.

“It’s going to be tough to catch up and get to a point where we’re really ready to go for the season,” he said. “I think they’re going to have to make an adjustment to the way games are played. Probably a few more water breaks, more than one per half, because I don’t think any of the ladies are going to be in the shape to run 80 minutes. It’s going to be really tough.”

Additionally, he is skeptical about how his team might respond to the new “norms” for practices this summer, including the 10-person limit and minimal contact guidelines. With the inability to intermingle between practice groups, neither Gossett nor his players will be able to interact with everybody which could cause chemistry problems – especially for a group that will need to fill several holes.

That said, the Indians know that they’re not the only ones facing these roadblocks – especially in Montgomery County.

“It’s really discouraging because the counties around us kind of went back a little bit earlier than we did,” Gossett said. “We haven’t been allowed to do anything until about July 6, some of the other counties, I understand, are doing the CDC recommendations and guidelines, the social distancing, the fewer players in a group, but they’ve been allowed to get together a little bit earlier than we have.

“It puts us a little bit behind. I understand everything, everybody’s worried and everything, but athletics are an important part of high school. As long as we can do it safely and be safe about it, we should have been allowed to get together a lot sooner.”

With a return date set for July 6, the Lady Indians will hope to find exactly who is prepared to step up into the roles that need to be filled. With that, more opportunities will open in their stead which, in turn, gives more girls chances to rise through the depth chart – a topic that the entire team is intrigued by.

Difficulties aside, MCHS is looking forward to getting back on the field against rival schools – whenever that may be.

 

 

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