La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Any other year the two-time defending state champion La Conner High volleyball team would be approaching mid-season form about now.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has dictated the school sports calendar since mid-March.

As a result, La Conner teams these days are content taking part through November in a modified practice format sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), which governs school athletics and extra-curricular programs in the state.

La Conner High’s volleyball and girls’ basketball teams began twice weekly workouts Sept. 28. Other La Conner teams are expected to follow suit during a two-month fall coaching period akin to the traditional WIAA summer practice window observed in years prior to the coronavirus outbreak.

“It’s been great getting back in the gym.” Lady Braves head volleyball coach Suzanne Marble, whose program captured the 2018 and 2019 state 2B net crowns, told the Weekly News on Saturday. “The players are excited to be back. I can’t wait until we can get everyone in the gym all at once.”

For now, La Conner teams are employing a pod system with a maximum five players working with a single coach. Players undergo health screenings and wear masks and daily wristbands upon entering the gym. Social distancing is enforced during drills.

“The focus for us is on individual skills,” said La Conner High girls’ hoops coach Scott Novak, whose team placed second – the best in program history – at the 2B Hardwood Classic in Spokane in early March. “There isn’t any scrimmaging, but we can do drill work.”

At present, the girls’ basketball season is scheduled from Dec. 28-Feb. 27. Volleyball is slated March 1-May 1.

In response to COVID-19, and anticipating schools using remote learning to open fall semester, the WIAA last summer shifted from a three-season sports calendar to shorter four-season campaigns for the 2020-21 academic year.

Football, like volleyball, has been moved to spring. New La Conner High head grid coach Jeff Scoma will conduct fall workouts but has to schedule them judicially due to limits placed on the number of that sport’s practice sessions and size of gatherings allowed under Phase Two of the state’s Safe Start reopening plan.

“Football is different because they only get 20 practices and just 10 of them can be with contact,” said La Conner Middle and High School Athletic Director Kathy Herrera, who is also the campus principal. “So, Jeff is trying to be strategic in case we can move to the next phase.

“I think the other sports will come in, too,” Herrera added.

Based on their strong performances a year ago, and despite several key losses to graduation, the Lady Braves’ volleyball and basketball teams will shoulder high expectations this year. But, for now, the emphasis with both programs is more on having fun than projected wins and losses.

“It’s just great to be back. It’s great to see the kids again,” said Novak, who noted that players have been working out on their own since COVID-19 forced campus closures around the state nearly seven months ago.

Novak said that point guard Juna Swanson, a cross-country runner, trained regularly throughout the summer. Teammates Josie Harper and Rachel Cram have likewise worked on basketball skills since the end of last season.

“The girls,” Novak said, “have been putting in some work.”

The same has been true on the volleyball side, said Marble, whose team normally would be about six weeks into their regular season.

La Conner players did take part in two-on-two outdoor beach volleyball this summer and more recently participated in some three-against-three matches in Whatcom County.

“They’ve been trying to self-motivate,” Marble said. “And now, it’s so great to see the kids together again. But it isn’t so much a matter of working on individual skills as it is to just tell the kids, ‘hey, let’s have fun.’”

Herrera said La Conner players and coaches are grateful for the opportunity to practice specific sports again. Outdoor team workouts last summer were limited to basic conditioning.

“Our main focus,” Marble stressed, “is the kids are having fun and the coaches are thrilled beyond belief.”