Football coach Scott Worsham, working during a 2019 summer camp, is eager for sports to return.Life skills are key part of return of sports
Worsham: Life skills are key part of return of sports
Creswell head football coach Scott Worsham said he’s hopeful that everything goes according to plan, and his team can actually hold its first practice on Feb. 22, as scheduled.
“We’ve encouraged the kids to work out on their own, because no kids have been allowed on campus,” he said. “Once we get approval from the state, then we’ll be able to work out in small groups, for small amounts of time.”
Worsham also coaches the softball team, which lost its entire season last year due to the coronavirus.
“I’m glad the OSAA has recognized that sports is important. I just hope that things will get back to somewhat normal,” Worsham said. “Kids learn so many life skills playing team sports. There’s only so much you can do with Zoom meetings and through personal meetings.”
The classroom presents a whole new set of challenges for Worsham, who teaches Geometry, Pre-Calculus and Calculus.
“It’s going to be complete distance-learning,” he said. “Instead of six periods, we’re doing three periods. We’ll be doing Zoom meetings with kids over the computer.
“I’ll miss interacting with all the kids, but we’ll do the virtual meetings with hopes that we can get back to our normal lives soon.”
Thomas: Life skills are key part of return of sports
Like peeking through a crack through the door, Creswell boys basketball coach Jesse Thomas got to see a glimpse of his players over the summer.
Then the door got slammed shut.
“We were told no contact from March until early July,” Thomas said. “Then we were allowed to practice for most of July, then we got shut down again.”
There was a maximum of 10 players in the gym, so Thomas broke the team into pods.
“We did a lot of skill work and conditioning, and the nice thing was we got a chance to work on fundamental stuff,” Thomas said.
Adjusting to the pandemic isn’t easy on the coaches, but Thomas — who also coaches the boys golf team — says it’s heartbreaking to see the students get shortchanged like this.
“The kids ask, ‘When are we gonna get to play? Why is Idaho playing and we’re not?’ It’s really tough, they just want to play.
“I’ve never had so many kids tell me they can’t wait to get back to school. They’re tired of sitting around at home.”
