MONDAY ALMOST FELT LIKE Christmas Day for La Marque football coach/athletic coordinator Shone Evans, so much so that he arrived at his office at 5:00am. The feeling was indeed mutual for each of his middle school and high school coaches, all of whom were at the LMHS weight room before the players showed up at 7:00am.
“We had close to 100 athletes show up,” said Evans of Monday’s workout session, the first allowed by the UIL since the national pandemic pulled the plug on athletics in March.
“It was a sight to see,” added Evans. “They really missed each other, and the coaches really missed having them around. What made it better is that each of the kids worked their tails off.”
A tremendous effort from both coaches and student-athletes was required to help pull the day off. Tape was placed every seven feet inside the weight room, where everyone had to wear masks. In order to even get into the weight room, all participants had to have their temperature checked.
“Everything had to be sanitized,” said Evans. “When a group finished its workouts, they had to completely sanitize their station before they could move on.”
Coaches were supplied with hand sanitizers at all times, while players were allowed only one at a time into the rest room.
Another challenge came from the fact that coaches had to be mindful of their players’ physical status. “We went with the assumption that the kids had not done any workouts since March 6,” said Evans, “so we started slowly but surely with them. We want to get them in shape, but we don’t want to overdo it. We want them coming back every day.”
Evans, who will enter his third season leading the Cougars football team, is optimistic that his team will hit the practice field early on the morning of August 3 but is also aware the status of the pandemic changes on a daily basis.
“The UIL (University Interscholastic League) always has the best interests of the players at heart,” he said. “The only focus they have is doing everything they can to keep everyone safe.”
