Mood at Glacier: Hoping to coach
The Glacier coaching staff is staying optimistic, and that starts with activities director Mark Dennehy being hopeful of a positive outcome to the novel coronavirus CODIV-19 that has brought athletics in Montana to a standstill.
“From what I understand there will be another meeting April 13 with the MSHA and their executive board,” Dennehy said earlier this week. “At that time they’ll determine where things are — whether there’s a continued closure of all activities for the spring, whether they pick it up from there, or some sort of adjustment.
“I think many of us are hopeful. But with the CDC recommendations I think we’re all a little concerned that spring activities may not happen.”
The coaches, obviously, want a chance to coach a bunch of seniors in their final competitions. There are many talented ones for the Wolfpack — seven of them on the girls’ softball team alone.
“I’m hopeful because MHSA is reevaluating on April 13,” said third-year head softball coach Abigail Connelly. “If they’re doing that in those time chunks, instead of canceling it all at once, there’s hope.”
Connelly has her players doing workouts at home in hopes they’ll be on the diamond in April and May. Like everyone else they got a week of practice in before the suspension of high school activities.
It is a veteran team that has played together since age 10-11. Now they’re in limbo.
“We’re coming off a year where we were division champs and we didn’t lose anyone,” Connelly said. “So that’s kind of a bummer.”
“I’m always looking at the positive side and hoping for the best for the kids,” said Arron Deck, who has been the boys’ track coach for the Wolfpack since the spring of 2009. “It’s one of those day-to-day things — but I do get a little worried about the rest of the country canceling their athletics. I think a lot of states are canceling their spring sports.”
Jerry Boschee has been the girls’ track coach at Glacier since its doors opened in 2007 – and has coached at either Flathead for Glacier for 45 years.
“I’m hoping by the last week in April we’re back,” Boschee said. “It’d be wonderful if the MHSA came back on the 13th and said give it a go. A lot of it is going to depend on whether we have many cases in Montana.
“I sent a couple messages to kids saying hey, keep working out and stay positive and we’ll hopefully have a season and get something done.”
That’s the new best-case scenario. The old best-case was everybody would be outside right now.
“It’s the nicest beginning to a track season we’ve had in the 45 years I’ve been out here,” Boschee said. “And we can’t do anything.”
Here’s what the State AA boys’ singles tennis bracket looked like a year ago: The winner, Glacier’s Rory Smith, was a sophomore. The athlete he beat, Bozeman’s Connor Joly, was a freshman. Another semifinalist is a senior this spring.
“It was going to be a fun year,” Glacier tennis coach Josh Munro said. “The courts are great. I’ve been out playing. I can’t run practices but I’ve been out playing.”
Getting a couple weeks of play ahead of a divisional and state meet is what Munro hopes for, so those seniors don’t miss out on things.
“They’re missing a lot of stuff,” he said. “They’re missing prom, they’re missing school trips. They’re missing out on a lot.”
Bigfork track coach Sue Loeffler, who is less optimistic about the season, notes this as well. Senior track athletes typically see recruitment ramp up as their marks improve in the spring. Now there are no marks.
“I just don’t want it to hurt their chances,” Loeffler said. “If they want to go on to college, then not having a senior year hurts them. I think as coaches we need to see if they want (to keep competing), so then we can go and sell the athlete to the college. Because the letters probably aren’t coming.”
The final year of high school is supposed to be one of celebration, not sequestration. The COVID-19 has made it tough on everyone.
“Particularly for your seniors,” Dennehy said. “They’ve worked extremely hard through the years and now they have to deal with this.”