SIDELINED 2020
Excited for the prospect of returning to the court
By COREY KIRK
EO Media Group
A
THENA — Jesse Manning is her hap-
piest in front of a volleyball net in a
gymnasium. So much so that she finds
herself the calmest during the season
when tackling the school year.
“I’m more relaxed when volleyball hap-
pens,” Manning, a senior at Weston-McE-
wen, said.
On the cusp of taking some of her finals
this spring, she was taken aback when she
found out that school was being closed down,
and sports were being put onto the shelf due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a pretty easygoing year until we
got toward the end because COVID hap-
pened,” Manning said. “That’s where it got
stressful because we had to do our finals.”
When this announcement was made,
Manning couldn’t help but feel terrible for her
classmates who unfortunately were unable to
compete in their sports in the spring.
“I felt really bad that all of their sports got
canceled. They were pretty bummed,” Man-
ning said.
It also affected Manning as she, along
with her volleyball teammates, were
set to begin offseason open gyms
at the same time leading into
summer league.
“It was tough. I know
everyone was so excited,”
Manning said. “It was kind
of hard because I know a lot of
people that were excited for it.”
No longer able to train or prac-
tice on school grounds, Manning was
tasked with having to train on her own going
into the summer.
“I took that time to focus on strengthening
everything. I would work out literally just in
my room,” Manning said. “I just focused on
making sure I’d stay in shape and that if we
did start playing again I was ready.”
Toward the end of the summer, Man-
ning and her friend and fellow teammate
Bailey Munck decided to take matters into
their own hands. Bringing a volleyball net to
a local park, they organized a meet-up with
their fellow teammates to keep work-
ing together.
“It was so much fun the first
day, and we had a lot of girls
show up the first time,” Man-
ning said. “It was so much fun
to see everybody, and it got
pretty much everyone excited
for the season to start.”
Looking into her senior year,
Manning will not be starting the school
year on the volleyball court due to the Ore-
gon School Activities Association wedging
fall sports between the winter and spring
sports seasons in 2021. Though it is a big
change, Manning is excited for it.
“I was kind of excited to hear that it was in
March because that way I would be in shape
at the end of the year,” Manning said. “It will
probably be an adjustment not really starting
in the fall, but I’ll be able to get used to it.”
Anxious to get back on the court, Man-
ning is ready for when it would be consid-
ered safe enough to be able to compete once
again and finish her senior year on her terms.
“I would be so excited just literally think-
ing about it. I love volleyball so much,” Man-
ning said. “If that (season) happens, I would
feel accomplished. like I would feel I left my
high school experience in a good way.”
Manning aspires to continue to play more
of volleyball in college. After her recruit-
ment trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she
was able to get some offers from schools
on the East Coast. Though excited about
those offers, Manning hopes to play closer
to home.
“I’m now thinking of hopefully playing
for one of our nearby community colleges
because I can hopefully get more playing
time if so,” Manning said.
Choosing not to worry about what lies ahead with COVID-19
By COREY KIRK
EO Media Group
A
THENA — Found on the gridiron in
the fall and on the tennis courts in
the spring, Weston-McEwen senior
LeBraun Albert was really enjoying
his junior year. Under the leadership of new
head football coach Kenzie Hansell, Albert
was excited for what was in store for the
team.
“It was a good year. We had some rough
games,” Albert said. “Wish we would have
won (more) and I wish we would have gone
to the playoffs. We were so close. We had
one team to beat.”
Albert enjoyed this past season because
he saw himself being thrown the ball more
at wide receiver. He felt ready to take more
responsibility to produce.
“I got the ball more. It felt amazing.
You don’t have that feeling in every sport,”
Albert said.
Going into early March of last year,
Albert was in the midst of starting his third
year for the TigerScots tennis team. Just
days away from his first organized match,
Albert was taken aback to see both school
and sports canceled with the arrival of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was just shocking. It really
hit hard,” Albert said. “Our first
game was against Baker, and it
was a couple of days away.”
Now finishing off the rest
of his classes at home in front
of the computer, the offsea-
son came earlier than expected
for Albert. While training at
home, Albert relied on many differ-
ent elements to keep in shape for the entire
summer.
“I have my own little weight room,”
Albert said. “I had my sister’s husband come
over and we’d work out together to keep in
shape.”
And with the Oregon School Activities
Association having announced that its activ-
8 • S E P T. 2 9 , 2 0 2 0 • E O M E D I A G R O U P
ities calendar is going to change in response
to the coronavirus, Albert will now not be
in an organized sport until around March of
2021. Afraid of how long it may take for it
to be safe enough to be able to play again
soon, Albert said he cannot help but
feel worried that there won’t be
enough time.
“I’m just fearful because
at this point the way that it is
going,” Albert said, “if there
are more cases along the way
— especially in March as soon
as we get things going — it
might get canceled again.”
With football scheduled for the
spring, Albert is interested to see how the
season will be played out at a completely
different time of the year.
“I’ve never thought something like this
would happen,” he said. “I would never
thought we would be playing in March.”
After a season spent in pads, Albert will
now have to adjust playing football and ten-
nis back-to-back.
“It’s good to have a break between sports.
That’s what I like instead of jumping into
another sport weeks after,” Albert said.
Through his reservations however, Albert
is excited at the prospect of being able to
play his last year of sports in high school.
“I’m ready to go right now. I’ve been
ready since the summer,” Albert said.
Even though there’s a possibility that he
may never don his high school colors again,
Albert is choosing to not worry about things
in his life like the pandemic that are out of
his control.
“I wasn’t patient before this pandemic
because I just wanted to play,” Albert said.
“I just learned to move on and just go with
the flow with it,” Albert said.
Even though he has enjoyed his years
playing sports in high school, Albert doesn’t
think sports will play a part in his college
experience. Later on he hopes to eventually
have children where he can coach them in
their respective sports.