Jacksonville sidelined
- Updated: December 10, 2020
Golden Eagles shutting down extracurricular activities, not because of COVID, but virtual learning policy
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Add Jacksonville to the list of Calhoun County schools that have shut down winter sports for the foreseeable future.
It wasn’t the COVID-19 pandemic that got the Golden Eagles, but a school system policy that if the school goes to virtual learning all extracurricular activities are suspended.
Boys basketball coach Cordell Hunt is hopeful the suspension won’t last long, but he suspects the programs will be shuttered to the end of the year.
“It’s a bummer,” he said. “You want the kids to play as many games as they can without getting out of shape and out of basketball mode but … unfortunately that’s the hand we’re dealt.”
If it goes to the end of the year, the Golden Eagles would lose four regular season games and the Gaston Christmas Tournament.
The girls basketball team just resumed playing after coming off a shutdown.
Hunt said his team was just starting to find its identity. There were still areas to improve, but now they won’t even be able to practice.
The boys basketball teams from Pleasant Valley, Donoho and Oxford and the girls teams from Pleasant Valley and Weaver all have been impacted by COVID-19 this winter.
Hunt couldn’t speculate on what all that might mean for the future of winter sports this season, but he is frustrated with the inconsistencies he sees.
“What I kind of wish is we would get some uniformity to this,” he said. “If everybody would do the same thing maybe we could get back on track but when you’ve got some going virtual and playing, some going virtual and not playing, Oxford shutting down by contact tracing …
“I feel we need a reset button. Let’s stop. Let’s just back up. Let’s assess where we’re at and move forward. I think we can still have a basketball season, I really do.”
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