MOUNT VERNON — Students at Mount Vernon High School are learning from a distance using technology like the video conferencing site Zoom, and Athletic director Jason Sanford used Facebook Tuesday night to update supporters on the state of athletics.
Governor Mike DeWine announced Monday schools will remain shuttered through May 1 and the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced spring sports are postponed through that date with the no-contact rule still in effect. Sports can’t happen if the building is closed after all.
Sanford took the opportunity to update MV supporters on a variety of topics, including the stay-at-home order and how it effects athletes in terms of staying fit, keeping eligible and how the schedule may work if play resumes.
He talked about honoring seniors if sports are canceled and provided an update on the fieldhouse.
NO-CONTACT PERIOD
The no-contact period remains in effect through May 1. He encouraged coaches to provide workouts using video on social networking sites for athletes to be able to do from home.
“We just can’t encourage our kids to get together and practice on their own,” Sanford said. “But certainly flood them with information that they can do on their own. For student-athletes out there, we want you to continue working out at home. Stay fit, stay healthy and maintain that social distancing. We want everyone to remain healthy as much as they can.”
ELIGIBILITY
“Eligibility is going to be in effect. This fourth nine weeks, even though we’re doing it virtually, will determine your eligibility in the fall,” Sanford said. “So, it’s important for our kids to stay up on these classes that they’re doing virtually.”
The NCAA announced Monday an extra year of eligibility for spring-sport athletes in Division I. Sanford said they will look into eligibility requirements for high school seniors who were counting on this final nine-week term to be ready for the next level.
“It’s important for students coming back and it’s important for those seniors who are using or counting on that eligibility to maintain these academics during this time that we’re doing it virtually,” Sanford said. “They may come out and say that they’ll waive those requirements, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
OHSAA is working toward finding a solution for the COTC and MVNU classes that have been stopped, Sanford said.
SPRING SPORTS
Sanford said he’s been communicating with other athletic directors around the Ohio Cardinal Conference to try to salvage some sort of league schedule for spring sports.
“We’re going to remain hopeful that this thing can lift,” he said. “Lets look at a condensed conference schedule at least just to give our athletes a chance to get some conditioning. So, I’m going to remain hopeful, and I think everyone out there should remain hopeful. We’re going to do our best to try to salvage something out of this.”
The boys tennis tournament draw was supposed to happen April 26, boys volleyball was scheduled for May 11 and all other sports are scheduled to have their tournaments draw May 3.
The softball tournament was originally scheduled to begin May 9, boys tennis May 11, boys volleyball May 15, baseball May 16 and track and field May 18. These dates are up in the air now.
“We no sooner start the spring season then we’re into the postseason,” Sanford said. “So there are going to have to be some modifications done if we do get a chance to get back at it.”
The calendar suggests play is unlikely this spring.
“If (the stay-at-home order) is extended beyond May 1 ... we’re going to try to do something for our seniors,” Sanford said. “We’re going to everything legally that we can do to make sure that we get a send off for our seniors.”
One way Sanford plans to honor spring sport athletes is giving them a letter.
“If they were on our roster or projected to be a varsity player, they’re going to earn their letter,” he said.
The softball team wrote letters to people in nursing homes.
“Kudos to Coach (Ryan) Pence and the softball girls for doing that,” Sanford said. “That was awesome ... just a great sense a great sense of community (and) a great community that we have.”
FIELDHOUSE CONSTRUCTION
“Our fieldhouse, because it’s a school project, is moving forward,” Sanford said. “We’re still looking at the end of June or beginning of July for completion. The fieldhouse is on schedule.”
Sanford said the concrete has been poured.
Next is the track and court surfaces, which were produced in Taiwan. They have been shipped as of “a couple of Fridays ago,” Sanford said.
“Taiwan was one of the countries that wasn’t hit too hard by this (pandemic),” he added.
The flooring will arrive on the West Coast. From there, it’s up in the air. He’s hoping it’ll arrive by the middle or end of April.
“That’s golden for us in terms of it being here and in our possession so that they can get started on it as soon as the concrete cures,” Sanford said.
LOCAL BUSINESS
Sanford took time to ask Jacket fans to patronage local businesses during the stay-at-home order.
“They’re so supportive of our athletic boosters in terms of sponsorship dollars and doing (meal deals) where proceeds go back (to our teams),” Sanford said. “So, if you can go in and visit these businesses, get some takeout meals from them, that would be awesome. They’ve supported us and we want to continue to support them. They need us right now and we’re going to need them come this summer and fall in our athletic programs.”
APRIL EVENTS
Sanford said any event that was to take place at the school during the month of April will be updated individually. Sports events scheduled during the month have been canceled. He’s hoping league games can be deemed “postponed” in hopes of being rescheduled.
“Whether it’s the end of this week or the beginning of next week, we’ll put a massive list together of all of those events and whether they’re canceled or postponed,” he said.
