There is a little bit of normalcy in this coronavirus age.
High school football teams in Idaho have carried on with their 2020 season. The college football season will start for some Northwest teams in less than two weeks. And the Seattle Seahawks have played as scheduled, albeit mostly in empty stadiums.
The Spokane Shock football squad is moving ahead with plans to resume playing in the spring, after a cancelled 2020 season.
The Indoor Football League season had just begun in March when the coronavirus struck. Four teams had played their first games. Sam Adams’ Shock were two weeks away from their opener when the league abruptly terminated the season. Adams’ staff had to adjust.
“Some people needed to get some refunds. Most, I would say 95% of the fans rolled over to next year. The sponsors rolled over to next year and we’re just keeping building," he said.
Adams is a former Seattle Seahawk player who had bought the Shock a few months before. When he was introduced he told reporters he wanted the team to continue to be involved in the community. And when the pandemic hit, he says it did what it could.
“We were out with Dry Fly, handing out hand sanitizer, things like that. The only thing we haven’t been able to do is get out as much, at all, because of the pandemic," he said.
Adams and his staff have used their interim time to continue to build their team. He says 90% of the players who signed to play last season have re-signed to play next spring. He says the team has also developed plans for game-related events, assuming fans can safely join in.
“We’ll have a tailgate this year. We’ll have a special MVP program where people can come in before the games and have a little brunch or a pre-game meal and speak with the coach," he said.
When the players return to Spokane for their pre-season preparations, Adams says the team will follow the protocols that other sports teams, from baseball to basketball to football, have already established.
“After this election, hope, God willing, we’ll have a vaccine come out and people will hopefully manage this social distancing a little bit better than they have and I know that we’ll be able to have people," he said.
But he says the Shock may not be able to fill The Arena as it has in the past. So he encourages fans not to wait to snag season or game tickets in case the league limits attendance.