With each passing day, the anxiety of waiting for answers on the upcoming fall sports season continues to grow. CHSAA has continued to say that the state’s timeline is there timeline, yet Governor Jared Polis has yet to make any mention of high school sports in his press conferences. CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green has continued to stress on Twitter that the state’s timeline is CHSAA’s timeline and there will be answers soon. Yet late Wednesday night she sent out a seemingly cryptic Tweet showing a list of all states that have delayed the start of fall sports.
Blanford-Green has stated, fairly, that a rush for answers could see Colorado go the route of New Mexico, who pushed all fall sports to the spring. Still, 26 states in the country have provided answers for what they’ll be doing this fall. Whether Colorado goes the route of New Mexico, Mississippi (who delayed the start of sports by two weeks), Tennessee (who delayed the start of sports indefinitely), or Utah (who announced they’re starting the season on time), still remains to be seen. Patience is important, this is the definition of uncharted territory, and CHSAA does deserve credit for how hard they’ve worked in trying their best to come up with a plan that allows for the return to sports while also keeping students and coaches safe. However, as we get closer and closer to August with no answers, the time for CHSAA and the state to provide a definitive answer is here and the people deserve to know what it is.
Until that announcement comes, however, schools throughout the state can only continue preparing like the season is coming. It must surely be frustrating for coaches, students, administrators and others, but they’re all making the best of an extremely challenging situation. They’re undoubtedly doing everything they can to remain positive in a time where pessimism runs deep. If you spend just a few moments talking to Heather Forster, you can tell that she’s doing an excellent job keeping that spirit high.
Forster is the new head volleyball coach for Peetz, replacing Shawna Runge. Forster acknowledged that taking over a team amidst a global pandemic hasn’t been easy. However, she’s taking the glass half-full approach in terms of how she sees the situation.
“This is no doubt a difficult time to be taking over,” she said via email. “However, it is reassuring to me daily that I am not in this alone! We as a league, school, community and Bulldog family are learning how to successfully handle all the changes, mandates and regulations with confidence. We just keep smiling and knowing we are BULLDOG STRONGER!”
This will be the first ever high school volleyball head coaching gig for Forster. She says that she loves the game of volleyball and is excited to mentor young women while having a positive influence in their lives. Part of the way she’s already doing that is by maximizing the time the team is spending together now as they continue conditioning for the season.
“We are making the most out of our time together as Lady Bulldog Volleyball with or without a Pandemic,” she said. “We spend time weekly in the gym working on getting our bodies back into shape with strength and conditioning drills and high intensity interval training. Agility is extremely important to me so we work on footwork and overall quickness in our bodies. As coaches we feel very strongly about skill building from the ground up. No matter what my girls already know, we are starting from square one in all areas of the game. Even though things look a little different in the gym and on the court…we can still work on the basics and honestly it’s been great for the girls to learn my coaching style and for me to watch them very closely and guide them to do everything the right way.”
It’s not just learning the game that the Lady Bulldogs are doing from scratch. There’s also the aspect of building team chemistry during a time in which everyone is required to stay six feet apart at all times. No worries there, according to Forster, as her positive outlook extends to that area too.
“One thing I absolutely love about our small rural school is the fact that our students are part of each other’s lives from the time they’re in elementary school,” she said. “Bringing in new freshmen or new students to the roster doesn’t faze anyone. These girls are so welcoming and develop a strong bond together so quickly with or without a Pandemic! I mix up our drills to involve all age groups so our bonding is truly team wide, not just with age groups or skill level. Staying within all health department requirements just puts a little spin on things. It doesn’t stop or hinder us from continuing to bond as a team and grow together in our abilities. We make the most of what we can!”
Pandemic and team building aside, Forster has a difficult task on her hands. Peetz is coming off a year in which they failed to win a game, going 0-20. The Lady Bulldogs haven’t finished with a winning record since placing 4th in the state tournament in 2006. Their best record in that time was 2013, when they went 10-14. Since then, the Lady Bulldogs have gone just 15-113 including last years’ winless campaign. Forster isn’t thinking about any of that, as she’s attempting to install a whole new culture at Peetz, starting with a brand new team motto: WACKY. That acronym stands for Work, Action, Courage, Keep, You.
“Each year is a new year and each match is a new match,” said Forster. “We put the past behind us and we press forward. Things are weird, new and clearly NOT NORMAL, but we won’t let anything stop us from being successful. Each match we play will teach us something new, show us what we did great and guide us into what we can do better the next time around. I am already beyond proud of these girls for their strength and tenacity getting through distance learning, coping with a different lifestyle and still being willing to show up, work hard and show off for me weekly!”
As previously mentioned, there’s a lot of uncertainty right now. The wait has been frustrating, and the anxiety around uncertainty is very real right now. However, Forster had a message to all of the people worried about the unknown.
“The unknown is exactly that – we don’t know what the season will look like,” she said. “I don’t find time to dwell on the unknown. Instead I look at the opportunity I have with these girls to make them better and truly encourage them to love the game of volleyball. I have full confidence in CHSAA and know they are working tirelessly to get us all a season no matter what sport it is. Even if it looks different we will make the most of it.”
