In order to stay in competition mode due to COVID-19, local sporting teams and leagues have had to be resourceful.
The Pioneer Valley Juniors Volleyball Club certainly falls under that umbrella.
The club has shifted its normal summer league from inside the gymnasium to outdoors. Every Wednesday, the nine-team league plays matches on courts created outside at School Street Park in Agawam, while a few matches were also played on the fields at Frontier Regional School in South Deerfield.
Frontier girls’ volleyball coach Sean MacDonald, who is one of the directors of the PV Juniors along with Longmeadow High School coach George Mulry, said the switch to an outdoor format has created the opportunity for high school players to stay sharp, in hopes that there will be a fall season come September.
“With everything that’s happened with COVID, it’s almost impossible to get an indoor gym that someone will rent you so once we got into Phase 3 (of the state’s reopening plan), we finally got to a place where we could start playing something that sort of looked like volleyball but it had to be outside,” explained MacDonald, who said the club has had an indoor summer league for close to 10 years. “We tried to think of some modifications that could make the game even safer.”
South Deerfield has two teams in the league, Hawks A and Hawks B, and the squads were able to play some matches at Frontier earlier this week. The rest of the remaining slate will take place in Agawam, with towns like Amherst, Agawam, Longmeadow, Westfield, Wilbraham, East Longmeadow and West Springfield also involved.
While moving the sport outside has been the biggest change, the league has also reduced the number of players on each court. Instead of six per team, squads play with four members a side, and the number of matches have doubled with teams spread out on two parallel nets.
“By doing that, we’re increasing the number of people playing and I think, from a volleyball coaching perspective, it’s nice when you can reduce the number of people on a court because people get more chances to play the ball and sharpen their skills,” MacDonald said. “People are spaced out a bit more. Any interactions with players coming close to each other are usually very brief. So the combination of less people on the court, playing outside in the sunlight and open air… all of those things have made the situation safer.”
The demand on individual players in a 4-on-4 match will hopefully pay dividends in the long run, MacDonald said.
“It really forces you to do more things,” he began. “You can’t have too many weaknesses.”
The logistics of playing matches outside requires setting up six to eight volleyball nets with lines, pounding stakes into the ground to hold the poles up each week. Then there are the protocols associated with COVID-19, as all players have their temperatures checked upon arrival and are asked a series of questions related about how they’re feeling. As is the case throughout the sporting landscape this summer, it’s a fluid situation that will continue to evolve every Wednesday.
“It’s been a lot of work at the beginning and the end of sessions but we felt that if we could get more nets and more kids playing, we can get people in and out of there quicker,” MacDonald offered. “We didn’t know if we were going to be able to do this, to be able to play. So everyone did their best to organize this on short notice while making sure all the protocols and guidelines are followed.”
Despite the hurdles associated with operating sports during a pandemic, MacDonald said the response from players and their families has been positive.
“It’s been so nice to get them out there and doing something,” he explained of the participants. “It’s a matter of showing up, playing and trying to get the rust off. We set up the nets, sanitize the balls after, put everything away… it’s a lot of work. But we’re doing it, and the kids that are playing are happy to get out there, get some fresh air and sun and finally be able to play some volleyball.”
As for the impending high school season, the MIAA announced last month that a potential fall 2020 campaign would be delayed until Sept. 14. There has been no official decision on whether high school sports will be played, as the MIAA waits for more guidance from the DESE and EEA. Volleyball has been classified as a ‘moderate risk’ sport by the state, meaning matches can be played, and MacDonald said the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has released some modifications for the sport to make it safer. Those modifications include not switching sides between sets, no postgame handshakes (which is now an MIAA rule), as well as several other spacing ideas.
“We’ll see what happens but I know everyone is hopeful,” MacDonald said of the fall. “I’m bringing back all but a couple players from a state championship team so I know the kids would love a chance to be able to get back out there in the fall.”