Coronavirus pandemic ends a Friday night tradition for now but high school football still possible

Captains for Newport Harbor and Woodbridge meet for the coin toss before last year’s season opener at University High. (File photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

It was supposed to be the night that local football fans, players, coaches and sportswriters look forward to: the annual start of the high school football season.

There’s nothing quite like opening night. Everyone has a little extra adrenaline going in anticipation of the first game.

Then, you see the fans start to file into the stadium, the band marching in and the teams charging onto the field.

Then, comes the opening kick-off.

There’s nothing like it.

We’ve been blessed to experience Friday night (and some Thursday night) football for more than three decades covering sports in Orange County but during unprecedented times, none of us will experience that Friday night because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has tragically killed thousands across our country and world and affected so many others.

We remember every victim and salute our brave doctors and nurses who have put their lives on the line every day.

While none of us will be spending time where we had hoped to be tonight, at the football stadium, there is some hope for the future. CIF officials have come up with a solid plan which tentatively starts most fall sports in December 2020 and football in January 2021.

The plan calls for full schedules and has some sports being moved around. For instance, girls and boys water polo, girls and boys volleyball and girls and boys cross country would happen at the same time.

CIF officials have made it clear that schools will need to have in person instruction and that local and state health officials will need to give final approval for athletics to happen. It appears much of the decision-making will lie with individual school districts.

CIF Commissioner Rob Wigod had some advice for adults in July.

“I really hope that we as adults keep our messages going forward in a positive way so our student athletes see how much we want to do this in service to them and then we can all look back on this and say, ‘look what we were able to accomplish and we were able to fight through and overcome’ and really do make this happen and get back to what we were we’re used to hopefully in the 2021-22 school year,” Wigod said in an interview with OC Sports Zone.

Even without Friday night football for now, coaches continue to show confidence that their seasons will begin in January. Their enthusiasm and dedication is remarkable during trying times. Some parents appear to be excited about the possible return, others have shown concern about the health and safety of their youngsters playing football and are wondering what precautions will be taken.

Coaches and players generally seem to be in a ‘can’t wait’ mode and ready to take on the challenges in uncertain times.

A lot has to go well for football and other sports to return and we can’t really predict what will happen. There appears to be a very uncertain road ahead. We do believe that CIF officials made the right move to establish a calendar when they did, one that can be adjusted if needed if conditions from the coronavirus pandemic don’t improve or get worse.

Almost a year ago, we were planning our week one coverage and getting ready to cover the Newport Harbor vs. Woodbridge football opener along with other games as part of our second season with OC Sports Zone. Little did we know anything like the coronavirus would strike as it has.

This year, we, like so many others, are waiting to see what happens.

While we can’t ever fill the void of Friday night football, we can do our best to keep you informed in the coming months and we welcome your sports news. We have a vehicle here and we have an obligation to our communities to continue our regular publication schedule.

We realize how disappointing this has been for athletes, especially seniors. We have been reporting on the effects on these athletes since March. Like many of you, we want sports back when it is safe for all and we plan to be ready for Friday night football, even in January.

We hope you all do your best to stay safe and healthy!

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com