Our New Normal, Volume III

The third installment of our look at Collegiate’s new normal begins and ends with a late afternoon visit to the athletic fields on the North Mooreland Road campus.
Although outside competition in the traditional sense has fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic, teams still exist and practice under the watchful eyes of coaches who focus on developing skills, enhancing camaraderie, and making the most of a difficult and unprecedented situation.
 
My first stop is the Grover Jones Field where I encounter Marshall Lindner assisting with the supervision of the Cub boys soccer team as it runs through a series of drills.
 
What’s it like coaching active Middle School guys when there’s no contact or games? I asked.
 
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Lindner, who also heads the boys soccer program at Goochland High School. He would know. He’s seen pretty much everything sports can provide. He’s been a high school coach for 49 years, mostly at Friends Academy on Long Island, where his teams won four state titles, three in soccer, one in baseball.
 
I’m so amazed at how so many people are trying so hard to provide some semblance of normalcy for the kids. Your high school years come and go. You may never have a chance be on a team again. Everybody’s trying their best to provide that indispensable experience. People are doing a great job.”
 
How do you keep kids motivated? I asked.
 
“At a certain level,” he replied, “they know this is better than nothing at all. They’re out here with their friends. They’re getting good exercise. They’re on a nice field. They’re enjoying themselves. It’s not what they hope for. It’s not what we hope for, but it’s better than not having anything at all. I’ve heard different coaches saying to kids, ‘You know what? We didn’t wish this on you for anything. We’re sorry you have to deal with it. Let’s make the best of it and do the best we can.’”
 
As we signed off, the JV cross country team was beginning a set of striders on the Jim Hickey Track following a run through the campus and over the streets of the contiguous Sleepy Hollow neighborhood.
 
How do you manage cross country when you have to socially distance? I asked Robby Turner, longtime assistant coach who also oversees JV girls basketball and varsity softball.
 
“It’s the situation that every coach and teacher is in right now,” he replied. “You have to find creative ways to do the things you could easily do in the past. You have to come up with competitions and games that will meet the guidelines while at the same time keep them running and working hard. It challenges you as a coach.”
 
Seems like you’ve answered that challenge, I offered.
 
“What I can say is from the second I stepped on the field with the kids, I felt better,” Turner said. “Being with them and them being together is what we all need. They’ve been great. They’ve been working around everything they have to work around. They’re just happy to be here and be somewhat social in the best way they can.”
 
You always stress that cross country is a team sport, not an individual activity, I said. That concept looms large now. Correct?
 
“It does,” he replied. “They know they have to support each other. They’re invested in how each other is doing. It’s been good so far. The kids are just happy to be around people. That’s the big win in all this.”
 
On the upper field, Andrew Stanley and his coaching staff were running the Cub green (8th grade) football team through its paces.
 
Even without equipment, football involves some contact, I said. How do you maintain physical distancing?
 
“A lot of reminders, a lot of structure,” Stanley said. “We’re simulating a defensive look but the defense is not allowed to touch the ball or make a play on the ball. The lines don’t come any closer than four yards from each other. That gives quarterbacks and receivers and defensive backs the ability to get a look, make a read, and learn the flow of the play.”
 
So what are the guys getting out of the fall when there’re no games? I asked.
 
“The hope is, much like we have a spiraling math curriculum, that we’re teaching the ideas of a Cover 3 or Cover 2 or the principles of a zone offense,” he said. “Parts of it will stick and make it a lot easier for them next year in JV football.”
 
So far, so good? I asked.
 
“The kids have handled it really well,” Stan said.  “We’re excited to have the opportunity to be out here. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of responsibility and decision-making, how they interact, group accountability, helping each other.”
 
We don’t know what the next world will look like, I said. We just have to make this experience work.
 
“We’ve said 100 times: We get today. We didn’t design today this way, but we get today, so we have to take advantage of today,” he said. “There’s no question that with the amount of time we’ve been able to focus on footwork, technique, the understanding of concepts and formations, we’ll position these kids to be some of the most knowledgeable football players that have moved on from middle school to high school in a long time. That’s a positive, and they’re having fun.”
 
So you’re making the best of things?
 
“We’re lucky to be able to do this,” Stan said. “A lot of kids can’t. To quote the great philosopher Bruce Springsteen, ‘Nothing creates motivation like having absolutely no other options.’”
 
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