Spring sports teams at Eudora High School started competing this week for the first time in almost two years. Last year, the teams only practiced for about two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut their seasons down while they were on spring break.

The boys golf team was supposed to have its inaugural season in spring 2020, but like the other spring sports, they never had the opportunity to compete.

Golf coach Susan DeVoe had 22 students out for golf last spring. The girls and boys were going to compete together because the girls did not have a team yet in fall 2019.

“We went out to Twin Oaks, and we were practicing, and we’re all super excited because it’s the first year ever, but we also know this COVID thing is happening,” she said. “I told them ‘This doesn’t look good, maybe we won’t come back initially from spring break’ because it was beginning to blow up, but that’s where we left it.” 

DeVoe was hopeful students would return to school in about a week or two. Senior Brenton Ormsby asked the School Board to consider a golf team his sophomore year and missed his chance to play last year as a junior.

“Everybody was just hopeful, particularly Brenton because he had worked so hard to get this going,” DeVoe said. “Presenting to the board, his fundraising, all of these various things to make sure that we had the money to even start the season.”

DeVoe said she is more optimistic the boys will play this season after the girls team completed its season in the fall and after the winter sports season concluded without any major issues. She said the players are confident, too. 

“They don’t have any qualms about it,” she said. “They’re 100 percent confident their season is going to go off without a hitch and that they’ll get to play for sure. That’s not even a concern for them at this point.” 

Baseball coach Wilson Kilmer said his players don’t appear to be worried about their season, either.

“They’re excited to be back out and playing,” he said. “Guys don’t seem to be worried about losing the season because they’ve seen football get through and basketball get through. If wrestling can get through, anybody can get through.” 

Track coach Joe Pickett said he remembers learning about the spread of COVID-19 overseas and how it rapidly affected the U.S. 

When the students went home for spring break, Pickett shared information with his athletes about how they could continue training and working out on their own. 

“The first questions I got about the season being canceled, I think I told the kids that I didn’t think that would happen, but then it happened very quickly,” he said. “It just went from not really knowing much about it and what would happen to just realizing that it was over.” 

Pickett said that one of the most difficult parts of the season was communicating with the seniors through text and email after their last season ended abruptly. 

“At that time, it was more about talking with kids and talking with seniors that were really disappointed,” he said. “That was the hardest thing at that point was just realizing that some of these seniors weren’t going to have their last season.”

As the track athletes head into competition this year, Pickett said they have to be flexible and prepared for potential changes in the schedule. He said he’s excited to see the progress the athletes have made since they last competed.

“I think in the back of my mind, I still worry about what changes might be necessary and I just can’t wait to get that first track meet underway,” he said. “That’s gonna really feel good once we’re at that first competition.” 

Girls soccer coach Darren Erpelding said it was difficult communicating with the seniors on the team when he was uncertain whether the team would be coming back.

“The seniors were really the ones I was getting texts from or emails from, and not being able to give an answer sucked,” he said.  

When in-person school and sports were canceled, the players and coaches couldn’t see each other in person, either. Erpelding said he wasn’t allowed to pick up their uniforms and the girls dropped their uniforms off at his porch. 

“I had to send an email and that’s how I had to end it,” he said. “That’s how we had to end our season, through an email to my senior players, and that’s never going to sit right with me.”

Erpelding said he doesn’t see the team losing its season this year and he hasn’t heard any of the players worry about a canceled season.

“I have not heard any kid, any athlete, sit there and worry about and talk about if we get shut down again,” he said. “I think that’s the furthest thing from their mind because they’re so darn excited to have the opportunity to get their spring sport when last year we didn’t get that.” 

Erpelding said the unknown is exciting to him, and he is ready to see how the players have developed.

“I don’t really know anything about the freshmen and sophomores now, so I’m excited to see how that all gels together,” he said.

Softball coach Bill Finucane said seeing fall and winter sports complete their seasons was uplifting.

“These kids need this,” he said. “I think they’re just as happy as could be to be able to get back out, from our perspective, on the softball diamond, and be able to run around and act pretty much as normal as possible given what’s going on.”

Finucane said the team was fortunate enough to go to the playoffs in May 2019, but they have not played a game since. He said he is excited about competing together again as a team.

“I’d say the biggest thing overall is just to have the chance to go out and compete again as one team and having everybody back together to represent Eudora High School,” he said. “I think that’s a big deal.”

Reach reporter Chris Fortune at [email protected].

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