Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM AUGUST 5-11, 2020 UCW 17 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Like everyone else who considers themselves a fan of high school football, Trey Edge is trying to stay optimistic that the powers that be making decisions about whether the sport will be played this fall in North Carolina are looking into all the options possible for safely returning coaches and athletes to the practice and playing fields. But at the same time, the radio voice of Terry Sanford High School football bro- adcasts is realistic enough to know the COVID-19 pan- demic presents an array of challenges to everyone involved that is difficult to sort through. "The kids' health comes first,'' said Edge, who was a quarterback himself during his high school days at his alma mater Terry Sanford. "It's also an issue of how do you test everybody. It's a money thing.'' He added that's the big difference between football at the professional, college and high school levels. Both the NFL and college foot- ball have deeper pockets to afford the expensive testing that COVID-19 requires. High schools don't have that luxury, without considerable outside assistance that's not readily available. That's ironic because high school football is the major source of revenue for schools to support the entire athletic pro- gram. "The fear is we don't get to play this fall,'' Edge said. "The bigger fear is that these kids are okay. It's a lot of responsibility for the county and the coaches.'' As a former player, Edge has memories of what a high school locker room is like. He agrees with Pine Forest football coach Bill Sochovka, who recently compared working with a football team like the environment of a petri dish where bacteria is grown and studied for experiments. "It sounds barbaric to talk about it but it's sweat and it's dirt,'' Edge said of the atmosphere in a locker room after both a practice and a game. "Preventing that spread from even starting is a big problem. I think you have to go into it with wide eyes and know someone, somewhere is going to test positive. Then what happens when they do?'' Edge said a bubble like the NBA, WNBA and NHL are using is out of the question for high school sports, adding that coaches and athletic directors will have to be especially creative in finding a solution to the problem. As a starting point, he said it's critical everyo- ne continues what's being done: masks, social distancing and washing of hands. While some coaches have pushed for a return to practice, saying we need to accept the disea- se for what it is and just be as safe as we can in spite of it, Edge said the safety of the athletes has to remain the top concern. "I can understand the desperation,'' Edge said. "It's a moving target. We miss football, but can you find a way to do it?'' Trey Edge, Terry Sanford radio voice, talks about concerns for return to football this fall by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Austin Warren arrived in Tempe, Arizona, at the Los Angeles Angels minor league baseball spring training camp in February anxious to continue working on his dream of making it to the major leagues. But after a few weeks working out with the other early arrivals, and almost the same time as his mother Alana Hix and other relatives arrived to watch him play spring training games, minor league baseball joined the rest of the sports world in shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now back in Fayetteville, the Terry Sanford High School and UNC-Wilmington product is working out three days a week and waiting like everyone else in minor league baseball to find out what the future holds, both for the sport in general and his career. Warren started 2019 with the Inland Empire advanced Class A team in San Bernardino, California, then he was briefly assigned to the Mobile Bay Class AA team in Alabama. He was in Mobile long enough to compile a 1-2 record with a 2.57 earned run average, wal- king nine batters and striking out 14. Team assignments for the aborted 2020 minor league season weren't to be made until near the end of spring training, but Warren said he expected he would have been sent to Los Angeles' new Class AA near Huntsville, Alabama, the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Even after the season was canceled, Warren hoped to stay in Tempe and get in some more workouts, but while hiking there with family a couple of days after the season was halted, Warren got the word from team officials that nobody could stay behind and everyone had to return to their homes. Since coming back to Fayetteville, Warren has divided his time between here and his old college haunts in Wilmington, while working out locally to stay in shape and keep his pit- ching as honed as much as possible. During his brief time in Arizona this year, he did get to do some bullpen work as well as throw live batting practice against some of the Angels' major league players. He said coaches from the Angels have been in regular contact with him since he came home, checking on his health and conditioning. As for what will happen next with minor league baseball, Warren said he's just as much in the dark as everyone else. "I'm hoping they will start some kind of fall league like I was in last year,'' Warren said. "I'm sure winter ball teams will reach out to people. You never know what's going on with this virus. You've got to play it by ear.'' Warren said the formula for advancing further in the sport is simple. "You've got to throw strikes, pound the zone and like everyone says trust your defense,'' he said. Warren feels he's improved all of his pitches and has the confidence to throw any pitch in any situation. "I just can't wait to get back with the guys and get things rolling again,'' he said. Austin Warren's baseball career put on hold by COVID-19 by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Austin Warren EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? EarlUCWS- ports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. Trey Edge