(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part Times News series on the PIAA’s decision to delay the start of the fall sports season over concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Today’s story focuses on how coaches and teams have tried to maintain a routine despite the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming season.)

By PATRICK MATSINKO

PMATSINKO@tnonline.com

The coronavirus pandemic has brought on countless unknowns. But the uncertainty has remained constant.

Athletes across Pennsylvania preparing for the fall sports season were left with more questions last week when the PIAA announced it was delaying the start of the campaign for two weeks.

The news came after Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf gave a strong recommendation not to play high school sports until January of 2021.

It was an announcement few saw coming.

“It definitely keeps you on your toes,” said Lehighton field hockey coach Vanessa Rimbey. “We’re just taking this day-by-day.

“I just think they’re really unsure because they learn something new every day.”

Rimbey and the Indians are one of the many programs left to fill the time between now and Aug. 24 with more workouts as the PIAA makes its pitch to Wolf to keep the fall sports season in place.

“They’ve been working really hard the last 10 weeks,” she said. “And I think to make it this far and be on the doorstep of when preseason was supposed to start was just really disappointing.”

As schools, players, coaches and parents navigate what lies ahead, they’re doing so in a variety of different ways.

“Right now, we’re just continuing with our normal schedule,” said Tamaqua football coach Sam Bonner. “But two weeks from now, Tamaqua is supposed to be back in school. So obviously the schedule we had ready and prepped for our preseason practices is going to have to change because the kids are going to be in school. So you’re not going to be able to do two-a-day practices.”

The heat acclimatization period for football will now begin during what was supposed to be the first week of the regular season, with games originally scheduled for Friday, Aug. 28.

“We’ve kind of thrown it out there and we have stuff in place, but just like this past week, you don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” said Bonner. “It seems like things change not just weekly, but sometimes daily. It’s one of those things where you have to have a plan, but at the same time, that might not be the plan you’re going to stick with.

“It’s definitely not going to be a traditional summer camp if we end up having it before we open up the season. My thing is that the kids don’t get out of school until 3 p.m. so it’s going to be hard to have two-a-days if they’re there until 9:30-10 p.m. and then they have to go to school the next day. So maybe what we’re looking at is doing one long practice after school for those two weeks and try and get as much as we possibly can.”

There have been no shortage of adjustments for coaches who are trying to make the most of the schedules - and the facilities.

Marian’s volleyball team has been practicing on the front lawn in front of the school. With around 25 total players, including 15 freshmen, utilizing one net four days a week from 6-8 p.m. it has been a unique situation for veteran Fillies mentor John “Doc” Fallabel.

“I usually have eight or nine girls (for offseason workouts),” said Fallabel. “But this year, because of 15 freshmen and so much interest in the program, the least I had for any workout was 12, but that was an aberration because it has been averaging about 22. I had 24 there on Tuesday night.”

While the turnout is a positive for the program, Fallabel noted it can be difficult to maintain social distancing, even outside. Once - or if - the team does return to the school’s gymnasium for workouts, it will need to alter their practices.

“I can’t have the whole team in there at once, so I’ll have to break it down into two separate sessions with 10 to 15 kids in each one,” said Fallabel. “So we’ll have to have to separate practices and try to figure out how to really make the most of our resources and the time we have available.”

While volleyball will present certain challenges different from an outdoor, noncontact sport such cross-country, it doesn’t make one any less problematic than the other.

“I have not met with my kids,” said Northern Lehigh cross-country mentor Dave Oertner, who has coached for nearly 40 years and racked up over 1,000 wins. “It’s one of those things where I would rather keep them healthy, and because it’s cross-country, we’ve been sending workouts and suggestions home to parents and then they do it on their own.

“I didn’t think it was worth it, for cross-country, bringing them in too early. I’m thinking I’m going to start bringing them in soon, but I didn’t want to bring them in as a group until we had to. For me, it wasn’t worth the risk.”

It’s been a slow build across the area throughout the summer months in preparation for the season.

“It’s been an evolving process,” said Northwestern boys’ soccer head coach Nate Hunsicker. “The first couple of weeks we were pretty much limited to just cardio and very individualized training. As the weeks progressed, we were able to kind of ramp it up to partners and then small groups and slightly larger groups.

“This past week we were able to start with full-sided scrimmages and playing, so we’re already trying to implement some of the looks, possibly a different formation that we’re looking to unveil this year.”

But the enthusiasm has often been tempered by developments such as what occurred after the governor’s announcement last week, turning hope on its head.

“So it’s been exciting, but with all this different news coming out between the NCAA, the PIAA, and professional sports, it’s been nerve-wracking and frustrating at the same time,” said Hunsicker. “It seems like every time you kind of feel a little bit optimistic, something else comes out … it’s one step forward, two steps backward.”

The direction forward has seemed unclear since the cancellation of the spring sports season and the remainder of the winter championships in March.

“And going back to losing summer league, that was a huge disappointment,” said Hunsicker. “But then when word got out that we were able to kind of slowly get up and running and come back in July, I was still pretty pessimistic of a season going on. But as the weeks progressed, things seemed to be going well. You have all these kids coming together, and we’re working out. I honestly didn’t really hear of anything where there was anything negative coming from it, and I was starting to get very optimistic.

“And then here we are, on the doorstep of official practices starting, and all of sudden we get the announcement last week. That was a massive blow to morale. It just left so many unknowns. We are just kind of sitting here in limbo. The kids were so excited for a season to get going, and we have minimal answers that we can give them right now.”

COMING FRIDAY ... Part 2 - If a season is played, coaches are prepared to adapt to a constantly changing environment.