Our New Normal, Volume IV

This week’s visit to Collegiate’s COVID-created new normal takes us to the Robins Campus on an unseasonably warm late-October afternoon.
The spacious tract on Blair Road in eastern Goochland County is usually a beehive of athletic activity (figuratively speaking, thankfully), but this fall…not so much.
 
In past years, there were practices or games on pretty much every field, every day, but with the change in the world order, only varsity soccer, field hockey, football, tennis, and cross country have used the facility for workouts since the start of classes and only the latter two had actually competed against other schools, albeit with modifications.
 
On this day, though, there’s an air of excitement and anticipation. You see, an hour-or-so hence, there will actually be a couple of hockey games, with rules adjustments to ensure safety and facilitate physical distancing, but games nonetheless. And JV and varsity soccer matches were on the horizon.
 
Brock Shiflett, Julius Johnson, and Sonny Tate are responsible for setting up for events, and this afternoon, with their preparation almost complete, I found them at the maintenance building between field-lining gigs.
 
Looks like you guys have been busy, I observed.
 
“We’ve painted the fields because they’re starting to play (hockey) today,” said Tate, who’s coached and volunteered his services with the equipment and field management folks for well-nigh four decades. “Now we’re getting the scoreboards ready and putting out the pylons for the JV Gold game on Field 4.”
 
Sounds like you’re fired up, I observed.
 
“Due to the COVID situation, this is the first time this field has been lined. In the last week, we lined it in anticipation of the fact that we’d probably start the season.  I know the kids are excited to play.”
 
Why volunteer lining fields in the hot sun? I asked. There’re other ways to spend your free time.  Forty years is a long time. 
 
“Keeps me active,” Tate said. “It’s good for my health. And this way, I’m giving back to the school.”
 
Things seem to be going a mile-a-minute today, I said. Has it been strange with so few kids and coaches and activities out here?
 
“In the beginning, it was very hectic with all the JV and varsity teams here for pre-season,” said Shiflett, a field and equipment coordinator now in his fifth year at Collegiate. “Once school started, all the JV sports went to the main campus so we moved all their equipment back. They tore up the fields enough that this time off has been nice because they’ve have had a lot of time to recover.  They’re in very, very good shape right now for game play.”
 
What have you guys been doing in the meantime? I asked.
 
“We’ve kept busy,” he continued. “We’ve been assigned to duties back on the main campus like helping out in with outdoor classes and painting designated areas for them. We’ve had a lot of time to focus on the baseball and softball fields (at Robins). In the past, the grass has run a little bit because we’ve focused on fall sports. Now, we’ve been able to pay a lot more attention to those fields, which has been nice.
 
“And with some sports approved (for competition), we’re building the fields and getting uniforms ready. Some uniforms and equipment are back at the main campus, so we’re doing a lot of back-and-forth. Some days we focus on one thing. Some days, it’s multiple things. Keeps you on your toes. It’s for the kids. That’s all you can ask for.”
 
Seems like there’re worse places to spend your day than the Robins Campus, especially when the leaves are changing colors. And if you’re here late enough, you can see the sun set.
 
“Absolutely,” he replied. “It’s beautiful out here.”
 
Johnson, a former University of Richmond basketball player and 2019 graduate with a BA in political science and double minor in sociology and education, joined the field and equipment crew just over a year ago.
 
You’re a competitor, I said. Are you guys feeling an adrenaline rush now that teams are actually able to compete?
 
“It’s exciting for the kids,” said Johnson, who as a 6-3 guard averaged 30 points per game his last two years at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne and filled the role as a valuable sixth man for the Spiders. “It’s exciting for us as well. It’s better that they’re playing rather than going through a full season of not being able to play a game.”
 
 Can you envision a scenario where you practiced but never played? It’s almost like everybody’s redshirting, but no one gets the season back.
 
“I really can’t imagine,” he responded. “It’s hard as a coach to make sure the kids are excited each day. It’s hard for some kids to come to practice every day and, like, we’re practicing for what?  That falls back on the coaches. They’ve done a great job doing different things to keep practices exciting. Now that the kids can play, I’m sure it’s huge for them.”
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