JIM THORPE, Pa. (WLVT) - The Jim Thorpe Area football team was back to practice this week. Practices started two weeks later than usual, but no one is complaining.
The players are screened daily with questions related to exposure and their temperature is checked. They wear masks when within 6 feet of each other.
AJ Bailor is a senior, and says the team is being careful because they want to have a season.
“We’re trying to create a little bubble, you know. Each of us, we don’t really go out in big crowds. We have to stay safe so we can have a season," said Bailor.
The PIAA announced that high school sports can resume this week but it was up to each district. Jim Thorpe will have an eight game season, but there will be no spectators.
Only allowing coaches, players, and staff at games was not the PIAA's decision, it was Governor Wolf's.
Gabriel Herschman, a senior on the team, says it will be different without a crowd.
“There’s a big rush of adrenaline you get when you hear the cheerleaders and fans screaming when you make a touchdown, it inspires you to get out for the next play and try your best. Not having that, we’re going to have to adapt. There’s going to be a lot of personal discipline each kid needs to instill in themselves to give 100% without that adrenaline and motivation and keep working hard with nobody watching."
It will certainly be a football season unlike any other, but the players say they'll take what they can get.
The Jim Thorpe Olympians play their first game against Marion Catholic on September 11th. The coach says they plan to live stream the games.
