Waukon softball team will field relatively young team with just one senior and four returning letterwinners in abbreviated 2020 season

The 2020 Waukon softball season will be like many others across the state of Iowa in dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. That virus that first brought an end to the school year and spring high school sports seasons earlier this year is at least allowing for an abbreviated high school softball season that has now gotten itself underway as the month of June has rolled around, although with some modifications in place that each team must follow in order to keep the virus under wraps and all participants as safe as possible.

“We are very happy that we at least get the opportunity to play a shortened season this year,” second-year Waukon softball coach Melissa Ward said. “We have been given guidelines to follow such as coaches/players need to take their temperatures before leaving home to come to the field, no dugouts for practice so our players have their belongings spaced six feet apart from each other along the fence, we sanitize our equipment before and after each practice, we put on hand sanitizer during breaks, and we space apart as much as we can during practice. Even though we have these restrictions in place, we are very excited to get our season started!”

The excitement of actually getting to play the game will be a big factor in being able to surmount the challenges of a shortened season that will require so much more than just physical skills and abilities. “Keeping players healthy, adjusting to the guidelines and finding a new ‘normal,’” Coach Ward listed as the greatest mountains to climb in dealing with such a season. “Student and coach accountability will be a big factor in implementing the guidelines set forth.”

Preparation for the anticipation of the 2020 season was brought to a halt in mid-March of this spring by the initial suspension of the school year that then turned into an ultimate cancellation of the remainder of the school year in mid-April. Still, Coach Ward tried to keep her charges focused on being ready to play the game should they ever get the chance to.

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