AD's (Beccue, Carr, Roedl) Talk About Spring Sports Season

Thanks to our area athletic directors. I reached out to them to see how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the way they've faced the spring sports season.

During the spring, junior high school and high school sports could include baseball, softball, track and boys tennis. As noted on our website, I had already typed all the area high school and junior high schedules day-by-day. Our area includes, Effingham, Effingham St. Anthony, Altamont, Brownstown/St. Elmo, Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City, Cumberland, Dieterich, Neoga, Newton, Stewardson-Strasburg, South Central, Teutopolis and Windsor.

I sent an email and hopefully, all the A.D.'s received it, asking five questions and those included:

1. What all did you have to do at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, such as canceling games, umps, etc.?

2. Did you think it would go on this long?

3. What have you found has been the hardest part of your job over this?

4. What are you doing to pass the time, projects, family time, etc.?

5. Any words of wisdom for your student/athletes?

I already have received replies from half of the athletic directors, so each day I will put several of them with their answers online. If I haven't gotten in touch with these AD's, please forgive me. I will do my best to get in touch with them and I know they will respond because our area A.D.'s are an awesome bunch of folks that do so much behind the scenes for student/athletes.

Today's athletic directors include Ryan Beccue (St. Elmo/Brownstown), Craig Carr (Newton) and Justin Roedl (Cumberland).

RYAN BECCUE (ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN)

1. I’ve canceled games/umps for as long as the schools have been shut down so at this point through April. 

2. Yes I figured we would be out of school/sports for longer than what we were originally told. In fact I don’t believe we will be back in school this year (But I hope/pray we are!)

3. The hardest part for me is just watching time pass for our seniors. They are missing out on so many memories at school/sports. 

4. I have been home more than anytime in my life. It’s been hard to adjust but it’s been great being around my wife and kids more! I have been doing many yard and in-home projects and have also put in a “Man Cave” in my basement! Life will get back to normal, so all we can do is stay positive and live in the moment. 

5. Athletes -- prepare yourselves so that you put yourself in a great position moving forward. Senior athletes --  reflect on the great times you’ve already had and pray for at least some sort of spring season!

CRAIG CARR (NEWTON)

1. I did reach out to all opponents and officials to communicate that our events were canceled, although it was just as a courtesy. everyone knows the deal. 

2. Yes, when I read the news about China and other areas, I realized it may not be just a couple of weeks. The people in charge have to have everyone's health and safety as their top priority. There's just no other option. One lost life due to a decision to return, etc. is too many. 

3. The hardest part has been not being at school. The kids at school are energizing. All of us got into education because we enjoy being around kids and interacting with them. The boredom, in that way, has been rough. That said, I feel very lucky that, to this point, all of my family and friends are healthy.

4. I spend a few hours a day on classwork/schoolwork. The silver lining though is the unexpected, yet so welcome family time that has come out of this. My two adult kids have been at home, which has been awesome, and I have been able to spend time with my wife, Amy, that I normally can't due to games, etc. The family time has been a welcome by-product during this time 

5. I know that I looked forward to my senior spring season about as much as anyone could, way back in 1986. Ironically, I missed all but the first three games of that season because I broke my leg. But still, that was a common event compared to this pandemic. I have so much sympathy for these spring athletes, especially the seniors, of course. However, just like any time we go through rough patches in life due to school, work, etc., we still have the most important thing and that's our health and the health of our family. Hopefully, by the end of this time, we'll all still be able to fall back on that and move on. So many of these seniors are going to go on to accomplish great things in their lives. Part of the reason they're able to do that is the fact that they don't dwell on the negatives, like missing the games and the teammates that they love.

JUSTIN ROEDL (CUMBERLAND)

1. Basically, I just had to sit and wait to hear what we were going to be allowed to do and not do. Once decisions were made I would go through cancellations with schools/umpires and then communicate that with all the local newspapers/media.

2. At first I didn't think it would go this long but now I am not surprised that it has continued.

3. Sitting around and thinking about all the opportunities and experiences our students have missed because of COVID-19.  I feel especially for our seniors who have lost out on experiences they will never get a chance to be part of again and not just athletics. 

4. From the AD side of things, I have been getting ahead and doing a lot of the things I would normally work on over the summer months.  As a family we have worked around the house a lot, played games, and watched a ton of movies.  I have also found myself grilling out more and eating more than I should!

5. Hopefully they all learn from this that nothing is guaranteed.  Take advantage of the opportunities they have and be grateful just to get a chance to be a student/athlete.