Summer camps, conditioning, and basketball shootouts have all been put on hold for high school athletes across the state.
The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced this week that all athletic practices and events sponsored by member schools must be canceled until July 1.
If a lost spring season wasn’t detrimental enough, now fall and even winter athletes are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Much like the rest of its neighboring schools, North Montgomery is in a holding pattern to see what is next.
Athletic director Matt Merica said that they plan on waiting until mid-June to decide exactly what July will look like, and if indeed athletes will be allowed to return to the weight room and ball fields come July 1.
When schools are allowed to open their facilities, Merica said North Montgomery will be ready.
“Once the schools are open we are going to do everything we can to accommodate athletes,” he said. “High school athletes will have priority and then a trickle down effect.”
Right now summer youth camps are on hold, but Merica says they hope to do everything they can to hold as many camps as they can. He also said that teams from each season will get a chance to work with their athletes in July. The Chargers’ athletic programs have a wide variety of both multi-sport athletes and single sport athletes, and Merica is confident his coaches will continue to do a good job of sharing athletes.
North Montgomery girls soccer coach Julie Hodges has been active with her team on social media since schools were shuttered in mid-March.
“As soon as this all happened, I felt like I was in full coaching mode,” she said. “They just lost what they had to get in shape for August. I jumped on them to get going and get active.”
Hodges implemented a detailed ball skills challenge, where each of the Chargers’ five seniors are in a charge of a group of players.
“The amount of work they are putting in I’m blown away,” she said. “I’m excited that they’re out there with the ball getting better every day.”
North Montgomery is coming off a 9-8-1 season, and returns nearly its entire roster. The expectations to have another successful season are there, and Hodges wants her player to remember that.
“Control what we can control has been my focus since day No. 1,” she sad. “We can control being ready for when the day comes.”
Charger football coach Josh Thompson says it will not only be noticeable who has put in the work and who hasn’t once players return in July, but also on a team-by-team basis once the season starts.
“It’s going to be obvious as to what teams put time in and who didn’t,” he said.
Thompson has been sending out workouts to his players four days a week, including body weight ideas, and encouraging them to be creative.
Much like Hodges, his Twitter page has been full of positivity over the last two months.
“I think it’s important during this time that you recognize people are going to struggle, but at the at the same time give tools or words of encouragement for them to get through it,” he said. “We talk about what we can control, and that is our response and reaction to things.”
Thompson says that there will be both a mental and physical gap once players return. Overall though he feels like the next eight weeks will still be an opportunity to improve despite the circumstances.
“I definitely think this a time for kids to take advantage of,” he said. “You’re presented with an opportunity. These kids have a little bit more free time during their day, it’s a matter of are you going to make it a priority. The team that takes the most advantage of it will have the most success.”
North Montgomery, who posted a 6-5 record last season, is coming off its first winning season since 2015.
