North Central begins ‘new adventure’ with sports workouts after tornado, coronavirus
North Central High School’s “new normal” started months before the coronavirus shut down South Carolina and the rest of the country in March.
It began Jan. 11 when an EF-2 tornado ripped through the Kershaw County school, badly damaging the campus and its athletic facilities. North Central moved its operations to the district’s vocational building in Camden before the coronavirus shut down in-person classes and sports for the school year.
Classes will remain at the vocational complex the next couple of years as the rebuilding continues to the school’s campus at 3000 Lockhart Road. The football stadium is being rebuilt and should be ready in time for the Knights’ home opener Sept. 4 against Great Falls.
Preparing for the upcoming season will present challenges for the Knights’ athletic teams. North Central and other Kershaw County schools began Phase 1 of summer workouts for fall sports teams this week.
“Yes we aren’t in North Central High School, but this is North Central High School right now,” Knights football coach and athletic director Tyronne Drakeford said. “So we’ve got to treat it that way as if we were at 3000 Lockhart. No one other school is going to feel sorry for us when we get out there on Friday night. So we gotta get out there and get our minds and body ready.”
As players arrived Tuesday, coaches were there to take temperatures among other precautions because of COVID-19. Wipes were placed around the different workout stations, and coaches cleaned things between breaks.
Coaches squirted hand sanitizer into players’ hands as they arrived and as they went from station to station. While those precautions will be the norm around the state, North Central’s surroundings are a bit different than most teams.
When school starts, the players will be bused from the vocational complex to the football field for practice each day.
For now, workouts will be held at the vocational center, which has no fields for running or conditioning. There is a sand pit area that players will use for drills, but it wasn’t available Tuesday because of morning rain.
The weight room has been transferred to the vocational school and placed in a garage-type building where athletes are working out in 45- to 50-minute increments. The Carolina Panthers donated weight equipment to the school to be used by all of its sports team. The Panthers also donated practice jerseys and shoulder pads, and were scheduled to host the school’s prom before it was canceled.
Next to the garage area, a former cafeteria building was turned into a room where players work on agility and core exercises. Two classrooms are used for film study.
“You have a tornado. You are in a different location and don’t have the supplies that you used to have,” Drakeford said. “We are trying to get used to the new surroundings and make the best of it, trying to get the kids to buy into it. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, you’ve got to make the best of it. There are going to be obstacles in life. You are going to have to deal with it. How you deal with it is how well you come out of it.”
Drakeford remained in contact with his team with Zoom video calls when in-person classes were canceled. The coaching staff gave the players workouts to do at home over the last few months.
But Drakeford admitted that many might not have followed their instructions and it showed during the first two days of workouts, he said. About 40 players were there early this week for workouts, with around 55 expected on the roster before the start of the season.
Starting running back Kalab Haven said he’s been running about two and a half miles several days a week over the past few months. He was glad to be back around his teammates this week.
“I was very excited to get a text message from coach Drakeford saying that we will start football,” said Haven, a three-time state individual wrestling champion who helped the Knights wrestling team to 2A championship appearance. ”I think it’s just a new adventure for all of us. And yes I feel that everything has happened for a reason and brought us closer as a team in a school.”
Drakeford agreed that there’s a sense of closeness between the players and coaching staff that might not have been there in a regular year. The coaching staff has to be creative in making preparations for the upcoming season and be flexible when things don’t work out as planned, Drakeford said.
“We are trying to make do,” he said. “I can see the frustration on coaches and kids faces, but we try to make our drills as fun as possible, play music. Our situation is different. Can’t complain and feel sorry for ourselves. We take each day one at a time and make the best of it.”
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
