Fall Sports Preview

 

August 20, 2020

The video camera pictured below, which is mounted on the south wall of the high school gym behind the scoring table, will broadcast games on the NFHS network. Fans are able to subscribe to the network and view games from home. A similar camera is mounted at the football field.

The fall sports season is just around the corner, and with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, schools across Montana have had to adjust their sports programs in response to the virus.

We talked to Mike Richards, Broadus Schools Activities Director, as well as the Broadus Varsity coaches for Football (Ross Randall), Volleyball (Gordon Archer), and Girls Cross Country (Ashley Emmons), to see how things are going as they prepare for their sports seasons.

Mike Richards told us that as of now, fans will be allowed at home sporting events. Facemasks will not be required for fans, but fans at all events will have their temperatures checked and will use hand sanitizer, from dispensers provided at the entrances to the games.

There will not be a limit on fans at home football games, where attendees will be able to spread out around the track, while the bleachers will be taped off to place fans in groups of no more than 50 (to follow government mandates for crowd size). Richards said that those who would like to sit somewhere other than the bleachers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

At volleyball games, fans will sit on the locker room side bleachers, with another set of bleachers placed on the stage to fit 50 more attendees. Due to the mandates for crowd size and the spacing available in the gym to handle those numbers, the number of fans will be limited to 200 Broadus fans, and 50 fans from the other towns. The reasoning for only seating fans on one side of the gym is due to MHSA guidance regarding seating of players on the bench. Players will maintain social distancing while seated, which means the players on the bench, coaching staff, and JV teams will essentially take up one side of the gym.

Richards pressed home the point on being patient when it comes to sports: "Things will change. I encourage folks to be patient with school personnel, as guidance on sports is changing all the time."

With those changes in mind, Mike plans to put out weekly guidance on sports, such as how many Broadus fans will be able to attend away games. Fans attending games in counties with four or more active COVID-19 cases will need to wear masks, and other schools may have limits on visiting fans, which may mean only immediate family members of players will be able to attend away games. Richards plans to put out info on Dragonflymax, a website which he encourages people to sign up for in order to receive the most up to date information.

The school recently installed video cameras in the gym and on the football field, which means home games will be available to watch online through the NFHS Network, a subscription service which costs $10.99 per month or $69.99 per year, of which $20 of that yearly subscription will go back to Broadus Schools as part of a revenue sharing program, according to Richards. The service is provided over the internet, so viewers may watch either during the game live, or afterwards. Richards said the cameras will provide a great option for fans who may not be comfortable with the crowds, or perhaps for those who might not want to travel to town during inclement weather. If a different school has the NFHS network, fans will also be able to watch those games. Mike said Melstone has the system, but he was not sure about other schools at this time.

Season passes for sporting events are available for purchase, with Richards saying that in the case of cancellation of a sporting season, the pass will be considered a donation to the school.

As of now, guidance for sports only applies to the fall sports seasons.

Here's a look at each particular Varsity sport:

Football

Broadus Head Football Coach Ross Randall has 23 players out for the team this fall, an increase from last year due in large part to the influx of 12 freshmen this season. Randall has two seniors on the team, Kyle Minow and Gavin Severeide, with five juniors and four sophomores rounding out the team.

Assistant coaches this year include Matt Hagedorn, Cass Zimmer, and Zach Marengo.

While talking to Randall on Monday, he said that his team doesn't have a lot of size, but is very quick, and he plans to take advantage of the team's speed with his play calling.

The Hawks will look to improve on their 1 and 6 record from last year, with a schedule that still hangs in the air after Lodge Grass bowed out of fall sports due to the pandemic (Northern Cheyenne and St. Labre also cancelled their fall seasons, though that won't affect football).

A meeting on Tuesday evening determined the game schedules, with options including combining the two sub-conferences in the Eastern C, or playing some additional teams twice to make up the games. We went to print before the meeting, but will have the updated schedule available online, and will have a schedule available next week.

Ross said that in our conference, Ekalaka, Fairview, and Scobey all look solid, with Circle fielding a young team, and Forsyth as a question mark going into the year.

Changes for football this season due to the pandemic include the extension of the team box on the sidelines to provide better social distancing, and extension of time-outs as well as the time between quarters to provide more time for players to drink water – each player will have their own water bottle at games. The game balls will also be cleaned and sanitized during the game. There will not be a shaking of hands between teams, either before the game or afterwards.

Another change from previous years is the addition of a JV season to the football schedule this year.

Volleyball

With 13 players on the roster, Broadus Head Volleyball Coach Gordon Archer's team comes into the season with a wealth of experience that belies their age. The seven sophomores on the team may be the oldest on the team, but four of those players are now in their third year of playing varsity, a result of bringing 8th graders up to play at the high school level in previous years. A number of freshmen girls are experienced on the varsity court. Due to the number of girls on the team this year, Archer does not plan to bring up 8th graders, allowing them to gain further playing time at the junior high level.

Last year, the Lady Hawks finished out their season at the district tournament; Archer is looking to improve on that performance this year. Gordon told us that the teams to beat this year look to be Jordan and Circle, but overall the conference looks to be fairly even, with Terry improving from last year. Ekalaka remains solid though they lost some top players due to graduation, and Wibaux also graduated a number of their stars, though they tend to always have a tough team. With Northern Cheyenne cancelling their season, and losing non-conference matches to St. Labre due to cancellation, Broadus needed to pick up some additional matches. The Lady Hawks will now play Forsyth twice, Colstrip once, and Ekalaka and Jordan three times a piece.

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Broadus will not attend the Belle Fourche tournament, due to MHSA rules mandating no multi-team tournaments, but Belle Fourche will play here.

When speaking of the COVID-19 mandates, Archer commented "It's going to be an interesting year. I'm just glad we are able to play. The change is schedule puts us up against some tough teams, but I welcome the competition."

Changes to play in volleyball include the previously mentioned spacing on the bench, the elimination of the pre and post-match ceremonies, as well as team celebrations, and each team having their own balls during warm-ups, with each individual shagging their own balls.

The first match for the Lady Hawks will be Saturday, August 29th, in Ekalaka.

Cross Country

Perhaps the largest effect COVID-19 has had on a fall sport in Broadus thus far is in the Cross-Country world, where meets are limited to 200 participants. In past years, some meets had 800 or more competitors, and with the numbers now limited, schools have been limiting competitors to those in their own conferences. That means that many of the previous Class B and larger meets the Broadus Cross Country team attended are now closed to Class C schools, and with few Class C schools in our area fielding teams, the number of meets has been limited.

The upside is that a competitor only needs to run in two MHSA sanctioned races and qualify for the state time in one race in order to attend the State Cross Country meet, which will be held in Kalispell.

Per school policy, anyone entering the school will need to have their temperature checked. The thermometer pictured below in the high school entrance allows visitors a hands-free temp check. The visitor steps in front of the thermometer, placing their forehead in front of the sensor projecting above the screen, but not touching the unit. The thermometer then quickly displays a readout on the screen.

Broadus Head Cross Country Coach Ashley Emmons says that as of now, the meets on the menu for her team include Circle and our home meet, with some other meets in the works if things work out.

Before those meets take place, her team has been practicing hard, running in the 100+ degree heat on Monday to make sure they are prepared for competition.

Five girls are on the Cross Country team this year, including Rachel Rasmussen, Lea Aye, Lacie Robinson, Abigail Martin, and Rheanna Schroeder, while Abi Heacock will be managing the team and hopes to return to run at some point in the season.

The number of runners allows a full team in competition, which will help Broadus in the points at the meets.

The Lady Hawks look to improve on last season, where they landed 13th as a team at State. The Broadus meet is scheduled for September 15th, at 10 AM at Rolling Hills Golf Course.

A few other major changes in fall activities include the Fall All State Music Festival now being done via video submission, and a reversal of a controversial decision made earlier which had eliminated stunting in cheerleading. Due to backlash, MHSA will now allow stunting, so long as masks are worn during the cheerleaders during the stunts.

 

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