Football games are a special part of anyone’s high school life, but this year is a little different. There is a global pandemic that made touch in Texas in March 2020. It changed the world, not only for everyday things but for other things like high school football. Not a lot of states take high school football seriously, but in Texas, it’s something different: especially at The Woods. There’s a lot of things that go on during a football game: two teams fighting for a victory on the field and two groups of cassettes and cheerleaders performing on the sidelines.

Varsity outside linebacker Sebastian Bruges is a junior who had his varsity debut on Sept. 26, 2020, against Kingwood High School. This year will be different for players due to the pandemic. Not only teams at Cy-Woods, but teams around the state weren’t allowed to practice for sometime over the summer. This affected teams in a huge way because they didn’t have the time to prepare for their season. 

“It was hard and confusing at first; we were always in and out of practice takings breaks for a few weeks and then going back. There was always that question if we were gonna play,” said Bruges.

Some might believe that the coronavirus has become a burden to the sport of football. Not only at the high school level, but across other leagues in the country like the NCAA and the NFL. 

“We didn’t get the time we wanted to prep for the new season. The coaches took a lot of time to explain to us what this new year would look like and to make sure we were all distancing ourselves from each other,” said Bruges.

At this time, safety is key for a lot of people. The goal is to have fewer and fewer cases of COVID-19 day by day. There are many guidelines that sports around CFISD have to follow to maintain the lowest amount of cases possible. 

“We’ve done a pretty good job at keeping everything clean and sanitized. The trainers sanitize our bottles before they refill them, every player is spaced out as much as they can in the locker room. The booster club bought provided all the players with the neck gaiters that we can wear when we’re not in the game or drill,” said Bruges.

Coming off of a district championship last year, Head Coach Trenton Faith was excited to go out on the field and try to get another district title under his belt. The start of the year was slow but has begun to pick back up. All the coaches had to adapt to the new standards and also try to make the best team possible.

“ COVID has made things a lot more difficult; we have to plan more and make sure we are following protocols,” Faith said. 

This virus has affected lives all over the country. This virus had very negative effects but Faith and the rest of the team have tried to make it as positive as they can.

“It has been tough, but we try to take an adverse situation and make it positive. A few months ago we thought we may not be able to play. Now we are playing, which is great,” said Faith.

Some might question how social distancing is possible while playing football. Teams around the district have had to work around this to stay open and play.

“We are doing everything we can to keep players healthy. Spacing during drills, sanitizing when refilling water bottles, and wearing a mask when they’re not in a physical drill. During a game, we rotate more balls and put rubber dots on the floor to try to keep spacing,” Faith said.  

The Crimson Caddettes is a big part of football games. Maddie Peck the Jr. Lieutenant for the caddettes.The caddettes have adapted to the new environment as well.

“… We must wear a mask at all times, except for during halftime. This means we needed to add in choreography for taking off our masks as a part of our halftime routine,” said Peck. 

The caddettes have been following CFISD and CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They have arranged their seating differently where they now sit in the back of the endzone, where their chairs are apart.

“We cannot share items or store items once they have been touched. To prevent the spread of germs, each caddette is assigned her specific items such as a uniform, poms, and a Texas field skirt,” said Peck.

Even though things are different now, the caddettes are happy to be able to be out there and perform. 

“Although this football season looks a bit different for us, we are so thankful to be able to perform, and us staying positive throughout all of this uncertainty has helped a lot,” said Peck

Football might never be back to the way it was before, but the way things are now is better than having no season at all. The players and everyone else who has a duty every Friday night are excited to be back out there and be able to play and perform for the Cy-Woods community. You can find their schedule on Maxpreps.com to catch the next game.