COVER STORY: COVID-19 is everybody’s opponent this season

By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com

Journey with us into the season of the great unknown.
COVID-19 continues to rear its ugly head for nearly a year now, holding high school athletics in limbo day in and day out.
For now, the high school winter sports season is a go. Most teams have taken to the hardwood, with games slated to begin Friday and Saturday.
Other teams are at the mercy of their school districts, with some pausing athletics for weeks and even until January.
But the perseverance of our local high school athletes continues to be astounding as they wait at the ready for the season to begin.
“It’s literally one day at a time. I know it’s frustrating, but it’s understandable,” South Allegheny boys basketball coach Tony DiCenzo said. “We’re fortunate to even be able to play a season.”
South Allegheny’s athletic programs have been halted until Jan. 8, meaning one of the favorites to capture the WPIAL Class 3A championship on the boys’ side may not get on the court until the middle of the month.
“Somehow, individually, they’re going to have to work on their conditioning and ball skills if they have the ability. We want to come back when we get the OK and hit the ground running and not get caught up in all of this,” DiCenzo said. “Everyone is in the same boat. We’re not the only team affected by this. There’s a lot of available excuses out there and we’re going to have to persevere and become better because of all this.”
On the flip side, Belle Vernon Area, the WPIAL Class 4A boys runner-up last season, has been practicing with the anticipation of hosting rival Thomas Jefferson Friday to open the season.
Head coach Joe Salvino has a team laden with members of the Leopards’ football team, so adhering to the protocols necessary to play are already a part of the routine.
“I think it helps because most were football guys and soccer guys,” Salvino said. “It’s a day-by-day thing. Kids always tend to think they’re invincible, but things can happen and things could be shut down in an instant. This COVID thing is something we have to be careful of.”
Serra Catholic is one of those teams that had activities shut down because of the virus. The Eagles had begun practicing, but now things are shut down for two weeks.
“At the beginning when we started practices, I said, ‘Oh my god, how am I going to do all of this,’” Serra Catholic girls head coach Bill Cleary said. “Football had to screen 35 guys every day, so I said, ‘If they were able to do it, I should be able to do it.’ I’m used to it now, even though there is a big difference in how things are done.”
Logistically, things are going to be a lot different this season, and each school will likely have different rules.
Salvino said this year has been the toughest coaching job he’s had in his three decades on the bench.
“This has just been one crazy year,” he said with a laugh. “There’s so much you have to worry about. You have to worry about sanitizing the basketballs. After every quarter, at halftime, even during timeouts. It’s something we’re going to have to assign someone to do.”
Logistics have been a problem for a lot of teams when it comes to playing in a pandemic.
“We’re limited on how many kids you can dress on the varsity team. Then you have to worry about keeping the junior-varsity kids and the guys on varsity separated,” Salvino said. “So if for some reason the JV team gets shut down, you can still play varsity games.”

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