Macon County’s fall youth sports are beginning their return from lockdown.
As the COVID-19 pandemic cast doubt on sports seasons from peewee to professional this year, many wondered when athletes might be able to return to the field. After six months of local residents being largely confined to their houses, Franklin’s youth sports leagues are giving players a chance to stretch their legs.
“We’ve actually already started our little league baseball program – we’re about midseason – and our youth volleyball program has been going for about two weeks now,” said county parks and recreation director Seth Adams. “Both of which the numbers are up this year. Obviously this is the first thing kids have got to be able to participate in after being stuck at home for a while, so it’s been a huge success to date.”
In offering what for many players are the first organized activities since North Carolina entered lockdown, Adams said the rec department has seen an unprecedented level of excitement for this year’s youth sports. Although parents and athletes are eager to regain some sense of normalcy, this season will look a bit different than years past.
“For the first several weeks we’ve imposed a spectator limit, and we are asking for parents or immediate family members only to watch the game,” said Macon County Youth Volleyball president Justin Moffit. “We’ve also imposed players-and-coaches-only at practices to help limit any interactions. … We’re not sharing any courts right now so teams have their own designated practice time, and there’s an in-between time that teams can leave and the next team can enter a certain location. We’ve also implemented mask [requirements] for spectators, and at the game gym we are asking them to use the bleachers for seating to stay spaced out.”
After discussions with league parents this summer yielded overwhelming support for having a season, last month MCYV actually began play outdoors while the state’s reopening plan prohibited teams playing in gyms. When Phase 2.5 of the guidelines allowed gyms to reopen, the league moved its matches to the Franklin High School basketball court, returning the game to its rightful place indoors. In addition to MCYV, the Phase 2.5 guidelines allowed another program to begin.
“This is a new program that we started concerning cheerleading because there isn’t any cheerleading – as far as youth leagues, they’ve actually cancelled them,” said Taylor Shepherd of the Ruby Red competition cheer team. “We got in contact with New Vision [training center] which is really great because they’re taking extra precautions with COVID-19 and the pandemic that we’re in. We have many documents and many waivers that we’re doing [regarding] contact and keeping the children that do this program safe.”
As the only organized cheer team currently competing in Macon County, for the past several weeks Ruby Red has been signing up local cheerleaders for its 2020-21 season. Like the rec department and MCYV, Shepherd has received a very positive response from parents and athletes ready to compete in a different-looking season.
“You can go to three competitions, so instead of actually going to those three competitions you do them online, kind of like a FaceTime,” said Shepherd. “[If] you get a bid, you’re able to go to nationals which would be a travel [competition] in May. … Right now, they’re actually all online.”
Despite the limitations of social distancing in competition, Macon County’s youth sports leagues are eager to return to 2020’s version of normal. Most league officials said they have signed more athletes up this year than in any year previously, and players and parents alike are enthusiastic for a return to play. While COVID-19 presents both a challenge and a potential danger for athletes returning to physical contact, officials feel the benefits outweigh the risks.
“Obviously we have to be very smart about it and be very careful, but I think it was doing more damage with kids not having something to do,” said Adams. “With the school restrictions the way they are, they need something that’s normal in their life, so we felt that recreation and youth athletics was one of those avenues where we could get back to normal.”