Sierra’s varsity and junior varsity football teams are playing catch-up as they prepare for their Aug. 20 season opener at Hughson.
The Timberwolves have kicked off their first official practices for the 2021 season this week but are behind schedule because of a positive coronavirus test. High school football teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section were allowed to begin practicing July 26.
“That’s a third of your fall camp or preseason, whatever you want to call it,” Sierra coach Chris Johnson said. “That’s a significant amount of time lost and it does create a huge sense of urgency especially with the new players we have — we don’t return very many starters. Not only are you up against time in getting the offense and defense installed, it’s also figuring out what you have with players and where they go.”
Manteca Unified determined that Sierra’s varsity and JV team go into 10-day quarantine after a player self-reported a positive test for COVID-19. The teams last met for summer conditioning on July 22. Johnson added that two other players have self-reported positive tests during quarantine and are likely to miss the season opener.
The freshman team was allowed to begin practice last week since it had been working out separately from the varsity and JV.
“That’s been the one bright spot,” Johnson said. “We talk about controlling things that you can control, and that (quarantine) was something outside our control. It would do no good to whine and complain, you have to move forward. That gave the entire coaching staff to work with the freshmen and that was good for the coaches and the kids.”
Sierra’s quarantine could be a sign that things may not exactly go back to normal as hoped. The 2020 football season was moved to the spring of 2021 and was a five- or six-week sprint for some in the SJS. Here in the Manteca area, only two (Manteca, Sierra) of the six schools that opted to participate got to play their full slate of games with the rest getting at least one cancelled because of San Joaquin County health and safety protocols. Lathrop High only got to play one of its five games.
In some sports — such as football, basketball and volleyball — this past school year, weekly testing was a requirement. There was also a limit to spectators who could attend games. That is not the case for 2021-22 so far, but coronavirus cases are again on the rise in California.
Manteca Unified schools are following California Department of Public Health and San Joaquin County Public Health Services guidance for indoor activities, requiring its coaches and athletes to wear masks. Coaches are asked to practice physical distancing for all sports. The plan is for high school sports to continue as planned with the traditional three-season calendar until CDPH updates its guidance.
“We want to get back to normalcy, but we’re still living through the public health crisis of our generation,” Johnson said. “There are bigger things in life than high school football games. It’s frustrating, but you have to do what’s right.”
