Coahoma ISD athletes will return to action on Monday to begin two-a-days after the UIL gave the go-ahead last week for Class 1A-4A programs to start the season on schedule.
“It’s exciting because now we have direction, and we are getting sports back,” said Chris Joslin Coahoma ISD Athletic Director and Head Football Coach. “It’s been a little stressful because we’ve been sitting here making plan after plan and not really knowing what the future holds. Now it’s time to get going and that’s good. We are all excited to get back to it.”
The Coahoma Bulldog football team will kick-off the season with a Midnight Madness practice at 12:01 a.m. Sunday night/Monday morning at the Bill Easterling Memorial Stadium. The stands will be open for spectators.
“That event went over well last year,” Joslin said. “Our kids are excited for the return of football and this gives them a cool, evening first practice.”
Also returning on Aug 3, Bulldogettes volleyball players will report to the CES competition gym at 8:30 a.m. to begin two-a-days.
Professional, college, and public school sports programs across the nation shut down back in early spring in hopes of slowing the spread of Covid-19.
By summer, UIL OK’d public school programs to hold conditioning programs under strict guidelines after the spread of the Coronavirus began to slow, but in June, summer workout programs were halted for a brief time in response to the surge of new Covid-19 cases in Texas.
Now with the resumption of sports, Joslin said the department will continue to strictly adhere to UIL Covid-19 guidelines as the program moves forward.
“Even if we come to a point when the UIL drops those guidelines, we are going to continue to clean the weight room the way we’ve been doing it,” he said. “We are going to clean all the locker rooms the same way. We bought face shields for all the kids in athletics. We are doing everything we can to get our kids to competition days.”
Cautious but optimistic is how Joslin described the attitude CISD coaches have in approaching the next few months.
“We are going to deal with stuff,” Joslin said. “Every school is going to have to deal with students and faculty getting sick, but if they are going to let us go, we are going to do it but do it cautiously.
“I think the kids are ready,” he continued. “Our coaches are ready to go. They love sports, but the kids are the real reason why we are in this job. Our student athletes have been shut down since March, and they are ready to get back.”