Some Wichita-area sports programs haven’t started practices, but is it a disadvantage?
Monday, most Kansas high schools brought their student-athletes back to campus for the first time in almost three months.
Coaches were back barking out instructions, and Wichita Heights senior Jaylin Hanks said he even missed the tough coaching a little bit. But some didn’t get that privilege Monday morning.
May 1, the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) board of directors met and voted 48-22 to reintroduce prep athletic practices starting June 1. Many in Kansas believed the plan gave some schools unfair advantages.
The plan gave each district discretion on when to bring its high schools’ sports teams back to practice. Because of that, after an 80-day layoff, districts like Andover and Rose Hill set June 8 start dates.
When the vote passed, Pete Meitzner, a Sedgwick County commissioner, said he was in favor of bringing sports back and that he supported the June 1 start date, “unless there are some flaws that I’m not aware of.”
As of Wednesday, Sedgwick County has 547 more COVID-19 cases than any of the surrounding counties, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment:
- Sedgwick County: 598 cases
- Reno County: 51 cases
- Butler County: 39 cases
- Cowley County: 15 cases
- Harvey County: 13 cases
- Sumner County: 8 cases
- Kingman County: 0 cases
Rose Hill football coach Lee Weber said his school’s plan wasn’t to start until June 10 anyway. He said he worked with USD 394 and prepared a plan to submit to Butler County. The one week delay was in an effort to further the safety of the Rocket athletes.
“Just because the news cycle has kind of gone away from COVID-19, doesn’t mean it’s over,” Weber said. “We don’t want to do something that puts our kids in jeopardy, puts our district in jeopardy. I think it’s the smart move to be cautious and do it the right way: Have a plan that other people have checked over, rather than stepping on the accelerator.”
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Although Rose Hill is losing a few days of practice other schools can use to get their athletes into shape before summer, Weber said he has no doubts that his team can make up those lost hours.
“More is not better,” Weber said. “Better is better. For us, we would rather be 100% healthy and 80% in shape than 80% healthy and 100% in shape. ... We’re still two months away from the season. Maybe we’re not going to be ready to go June 22, but we will be ready by the time Week 1 rolls around.”
A few minutes north in Andover, Ken Dusenbury is entering his first season at Andover High after five seasons at Garden Plain. Dusenbury was at Andover long before he took the job at Garden Plain, so 2020 will be a reunion of sorts with the Trojans.
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Dusenbury and Andover Central’s second-year coach Derek Tuttle are in Weber’s boat. Andover and Andover Central worked with USD 385 to welcome sports back to both campuses. The district said June 8 was an appropriate date, Dusenbury said.
“When they asked me about my thoughts on it, I said to err on the side of safety,” Dusenbury said. “That’s no problem. We can get done with whatever we need to get done.”
Dusenbury is at a larger disadvantage than perhaps any other coach in the Wichita area given a delayed start to practices and having to implement a new culture, scheme and system. He said he had to say goodbye to his Garden Plain players on video and say hello to his Andover players in the same way.
He was hired March 27 and still has not seen his Trojan football players in person.
“We are on new ground here,” he said. “Everybody is doing what they think is best. I think we’ll be able to catch up. I’m not terribly concerned about it. Would we like to be there? Sure, but there are things more important than that.
“There’s no manual for this. There has never been a clinic on how to start a program in a pandemic.”