Girls soccer gets ready to take the field again – Sedona Red Rock News

The Sedona Red Rock High Schools girls soccer team halted its summer practice schedule after only a few weeks following the second COVID-19 spike.

But with the estimated return of fall sports getting closer, the Scorpions are hoping to get back on the pitch soon.

Coach Juan Carlos Aguilar is planning on resuming practices on either Thursday, Aug. 6 or Friday, Aug. 7.

Thats what my intentions are, Aguilar said. Registration starts this week, so Ill have more of an idea of how many girls I have. Thursday or Friday well start.

Of course, like all fall teams, the Scorpions are also in a waiting period to see if the fall sports season will even happen. The present plan is for official fall practices to begin on Monday, Aug. 17, the same day Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey plans to have schools reopened for in-person learning. While Duceys latest announcement on Thursday, July 23 did not change that, things are still subject to change.

Additionally, some individual schools have already chosen to cancel their seasons due to COVID-19, something the Arizona Interscholastic Association has said that it will not fine schools for doing.

Even if the season does go forward, Aguilar added that the present AIA regulations pose a number of challenges.

It cuts your purpose of training in half, he said. This is a sport of contact. If we just play it safe with the kids we will be OK. They just need to be aware of where they go after practice, when they go home. Thats the only challenge separation and the use of masks. You know that you cant run with masks.

The Sedona team is coming off of a 5-7-1 season during the 2019-20 year, though this season will bear little resemblance to that one. The 2019-20 soccer team played in the winter. This years Scorpions will play in the fall. Soccer was initially a fall sport at SRRHS but has been a winter sport for the entire time that Aguilar and any of the players have been there. But in January, the decision was made to move it back to fall.

That will be a challenge for Aguilar. Page High School recently decided to cancel its fall season. Thats relevant to the Scorpions, as the Sand Devils were the only fall soccer team that Aguilar had experience coaching against. Now, Sedonas team will be playing against an entirely new group of opponents.Despite that and the challenge of getting a team ready for fall after an abbreviated summer practice season, Aguilar is excited for the change.

For the size of the school and how many kids are involved, its a good fit, he said. Its going to be new. Its going to be really interesting with the other schools and how they do it. I like it the warmer weather for me and the players. Playing in 20-degree weather is kind of tough for everybody.

The coach said that hes understanding of any hesitancy that parents may have with allowing their kids to play. Despite that, he hopes the season will go on.

We have to ask them how they feel and if theyre going to allow their kids to play, Aguilar said. Everybody is scared. Thats totally understandable. But at the same time, we cant just hide under a rock all the time. Weve got to keep living.

Right now more than ever as a community the schools, parents and coaches we need to stay together and help each other, he said. Weve got to come together and find ways to keep the kids occupied.