Football has always been famous for bringing students together. But in the midst of 2020, is that even possible?

Even though the official season has only just begun, the team had been preparing for far longer than that. First, it was Zoom meetings to discuss concepts, then daily workouts, and only about a week before school started physically were they able to have anything at all like a normal practice. Unfortunately, even at that point, there are still many things that the team could not do, Klock explains. “We did miss out on a lot of things this summer. Typically we go to Team Camp at Shippensburg University. We weren’t able to do that this year. Typically we seven-on-seven against other local schools that we don’t play during the regular season. We weren’t allowed to do that this year.” 

Fundraisers and traditions, too, are being limited. The usual fundraisers, he says, were not as successful as they usually are. “Companies, businesses—we totally understood—they just don’t have the capacity to sponsor, put something on a card, like they typically do.” However, the team will not need as much funding this year anyway, as many traditions are now impossible. “For example, we usually do a senior retreat and we do a goal-building session. We didn’t get to do that this year. A lot of things you just do in the off-season you don’t even think about.”

Throughout the discussion, the one thing Klock continually mentions is how well the team is handling the situation, saying, “The kids have been great, though, the kids really have. They’ve given us everything they can, every effort, in every aspect.”