LAKEPORT — Until they’re sick of hearing his voice, Clear Lake High School varsity football head coach Mark Cory said he will be out on the field doing what he can to keep his players focused during these trying COVID-19 times.
With the California Interscholastic Federation delaying the start of the 2020 season until Dec. 14 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the four-month-plus void between now and anything approaching a full-contact official practice is a long way off.
So what’s a coach to do?
“Right now we’re out there, but there’s not much we can do,” Cory said. “It’s mostly speed training without a ball. You can’t touch anybody, but you can work on things (route running). It’s a lot more technical without a ball.”
Cory said he doesn’t have a crystal ball and can’t say what things will be like four months from now let alone four days from now.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen between now and December,” he said. “How is school going to work out? Can things get worse? I don’t know. Those are things out of my control.”
Cory said he prefers to control the things that he can, so for the past month Clear Lake junior varsity and varsity players have been congregating at the practice field for about an hour a day, four days a week, to get into shape, stay in shape, and try to shift into a football mentality as they face a long road until Dec. 14.
“I’m willing to come out here until nobody wants to come out here,” Cory said of the voluntary workouts, which have drawn an average of 30 players.
Cory took over the head coaching job at Clear Lake prior to the start of the 2016 season. The Cardinals finished the 2019 campaign with an exciting 37-30 home win over Kelseyville in the annual Bass Bowl game.
