Local coaches heartbroken, sad for players as state cancels prep sports for rest of academic year

“It hurts.”

Those were reactions from a couple of local high school athletic coaches following the announcement Thursday by State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey that this year’s athletic season was over because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Mackey’s announcement came during a press conference with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who announced state public schools students would not return to the classroom this academic year because of the pandemic.

“Unfortunately for sports, for band, for those things it means the end for this school year,” Mackey said of keeping schools closed the rest of the academic year because of the COVID-19 virus.

“Unfortunately soccer, baseball, softball, track, band and all those spring activities are coming to an end and they won’t be able to complete those seasons.”

The Alabama High School Athletic Association released a statement shortly after the press conference and said Executive Director Steve Sararese would have a comment on Friday morning regarding the state’s decision to cancel the rest of the spring sports season.

“Like you, we have just heard the directive from Alabama State Superintendent of Education concerning member schools moving forward this spring,” said the release issued by spokesperson Ron Ingram. “The AHSAA will have a statement tomorrow morning once Mr. Savarese has had the chance to discuss with the AHSAA Central Board of Control. We thank you for your patience.”

The state shut down schools and athletics for a two-and-a-half week period, starting March 18, with hopes to resume both on April 6 if the spread of the virus subsided, but Mackey and Ivey decided it wasn’t in the best interest of state citizens to reopen schools or have athletics resume.

Several area high school coaches expressed heartbreak and sadness, especially for their players, at Thursday’s news, but also stressed the most important thing was the health of all citizens, including the athletes.

“We are heartbroken that we will not be able to finish the season,” G.W. Long baseball coach Drew Miller said. “But we understand the situation and that the safety of our kids is the most important thing.

“We are close to these kids and not being able to finish something they have worked so hard to achieve is definitely heartbreaking.”

Dothan softball co-head coach Jessica Noble had a similar reaction.

“It stinks. It hurts,” Noble said of shutting down the season for good. “I am hurting for my girls right now, especially my seniors, for it unexpectedly coming to an end. We last saw each other on March 14 and we didn’t realize that that would officially be our last day.

“It is sad, but in the grand scheme of things softball is something we do – it is a small part of our daily lives, but it is not the end all. My girls are strong and they will get through it. It hurts now, but the goal is to get through it and to get on the other side of this pandemic.”

For both coaches, the biggest “hurt” personally was not being around the players they have developed a bond with through days of hard work on the field, in the batting cages, in the weight room and at other school functions. For most coaches, that bond is what coaching is about.

“(Not) being around the kids is what is hard,” Miller said “We have relationships. Being shut out of that as a coach is very empty.”

For Miller, a G.W. Long graduate who played at Troy University, the sport of baseball has been a part of his life as long as he can remember. To be without it, even for a brief time, is a weird feeling to him.

“It has been difficult,” Miller said of not having baseball going on right now. “Baseball is a huge part of my life. Baseball in Skipperville has been the majority of my life. Riding by the field and seeing the parking lot empty and the field not being used is difficult.”

The shutdown of the season means G.W. Long’s baseball team will not be able to defend its three straight Class 2A state titles and the school’s softball team won’t be able to defend its two straight Class 2A state titles.

Even though the Rebel baseball team (9-5) was ranked No. 1 in Class 2A in the last state rankings, Miller felt the team had strong pitching, but wasn’t playing well enough offensively and defensively. However, he was seeing improvement in the players and the team before the shutdown.

“That would have been something we would have liked to have done,” Miller said of defending the state titles. “I think the worst thing is we never got to see this team develop and peak at the right time, which I thought was probably coming.”

Noble and Dothan’s softball team was also ranked No. 1 at the time of the shutdown, amassing a 16-3 record with all the losses to highly-touted Class 7A programs.

Noble said she texted the players Thursday afternoon after the state press conference with the news.

“They are heartbroken,” Noble said.

For Dothan, Thursday’s decision ended a historic year for the first-year school with a thud. The school was formed through the consolidation of Northview and Dothan high schools in the fall.

“It has been a historic year,” Noble said. “It started back in 2019 when they made that decision that we were going to combine and our journey began as a softball team in May of 2019. All we talked about was this season and we prepared for this season.

“It didn’t end the way we hoped, but I am still proud of the things we accomplished and proud of the relationships we built. I am proud of where we put this program to where it will move forward as the Dothan Wolves.

“The seniors did a great job of leading the consolidation efforts. We are going in the right direction for 2021.”

The consolidation resulted in the formation of two tradition rich programs – led by Noble and Patricia Ball and assistant coach Donny Bright – into one. While now unable to claim a state title, Noble said the coaches and players gained something more valuable – new relationships.

“This could have been a great year. It still is and it still was,” Noble said. “As soon as we consolidated, that is the one sport everybody talked about – softball was going to win it all.

“The one thing Bright, Ball and I had talked to our girls – ‘Yes that is our goal, but blue map (first place trophy) or not, come May I just want us to build memories and build relationships that will last longer than a state championships.’”

G.W. Long’s Miller, who is also an assistant principal at the Skipperville school, was optimistic that things will be different in a few months.

“The safety of our kids has to be on the front of this,” Miller said. “Baseball is such a small thing. It really is. That is what we try to emphasize – that baseball is just a small part of our life and that we need to keep our priorities straight, our faith in God being put first. Our health is something that we have never had to talk about. This is way bigger. Baseball will be back. School will be back.”