SPORTS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
A3
Game on: Sports making a rebound in Grant County
Football, volleyball teams
face opponents in March
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
High school sports are making
a comeback in Grant County, but
the work continues on shaping the
unorthodox season.
Grant Union High School Princi-
pal Ryan Gerry said there is a sched-
ule already set up for the season two
sports — volleyball and football —
and the school is currently working
on getting confirmations from teams
they scheduled to play to see if their
district can participate.
Gerry said, out of eight teams
originally scheduled for games, six
of them have responded and are com-
mitted to the scheduled competitions.
“Football started this week with
conditioning, and our first contest for
football is March 5, and our first con-
test for volleyball is March 3,” Gerry
said.
Gerry said the school paired up
with Pixellot, a company supported
by the National Federation of State
High School Associations, to install
motion tracking cameras at the gym
and football field. This will allow
games to be live-streamed online.
“If there are people who are not
able to attend because of capacity
limits or their own safety, they will
be able to login so they can watch the
game from home,” Gerry said.
Administrators from Prairie City,
Dayville and Long Creek school
districts said the ability to play is
a great start for sports, but they are
currently working on how the sea-
son will play out for their respective
districts.
Prairie City Athletic Director
Billy Colson said their volleyball
team will be playing games against
local teams (Burns, Crane, Dayville/
Monument, etc.) with games start-
ing in March.
However, football is still up in
the air. As of Feb. 11, Colson said
the high school is waiting to see if
they have enough students inter-
Eagle file photo
The Dayville/Monument Tigers celebrate a successful rally. From left, Katie Barker, Miranda Cook, Aubrey Bowlus, De-
nali Twehues, Aubreianna Osborne and Brooklyn Near.
Ryan Gerry
Eagle file photo
Eagle file photo
Grant Union Prospector wide receiver Jordan Hall catches
a long pass from Prospector quarterback Devon Stokes
in a previous game against Heppner. Football games will
soon be allowed in Oregon.
Prairie City/Burnt River Panther Em-
manuel Stephen caught Triangle
Lake’s kickoff at midfield in a game
against Madras.
ested in forming a football team. He
said they are also waiting to see who
their competition will be.
“For us it’s about how many kids
we have that turn out to do it (foot-
ball) and also which schools plan
to participate,” Colson said. “Some
schools are allowed to play football
but are deciding not to because their
field is under a foot of snow.”
“We’re trying to provide oppor-
tunities for kids, and I hope the kids
Billy Colson
take advantage of them,” Colson
said.
Dayville Athletic Director Tiffnie
Schmadeka said Dayville will now
be offering football and volleyball
for this season.
She said some of the difficulties
with the upcoming season are educat-
ing people on mask wearing during
practices and games.
The Dayville/Monument volley-
ball team is currently practicing at the
Monument gym, where home games
will also be hosted, while Dayville’s
gym is being seismically retrofitted.
Schmadeka said their football
players started conditioning, and
their volleyball players will begin
practice on Feb. 22. The first football
and volleyball games for Dayville/
Monument are scheduled for March
5 in Monument against Wheeler
County.
“The staff at Dayville School and
the students are very excited for the
opportunity to play and support ath-
letes in this season,” Schmadeka said.
Long Creek Office Manager Jen-
nifer Garinger said, at this time,
sports are currently on hold at Long
Creek. However, if changes were
to be made, the school board would
have to meet to make any decision
regarding sports since Long Creek
does not have a superintendent.
“A formal discussion of it hasn’t
happened,” Garinger said. “We’re
going to have to sit around and fig-
ure it out.”
On Feb. 8, the Bend Bulletin
reported that the executive board of
the Oregon School Activities Asso-
ciation approved the start of soccer,
cross country and volleyball during a
Zoom meeting on Feb. 8.
“Soccer and cross country are
allowed to start practicing Feb. 22,
while questions remain about what
the postseason will entail,” the Bul-
letin reported. “Those questions will
likely have more clarity following
a Feb. 17 OSAA executive board
meeting.”
The Bend Bulletin also reported
on Feb. 10 that Gov. Kate Brown said
high school football will be allowed
to resume after being postponed last
fall.
According to the governor, out-
door contact sports in lower and
moderate risk counties can practice
and have games. Those in high or
extreme risk counties will have the
option to also resume contact sports,
but with additional safety measures.
Brown also stated in her release
that indoor contact sports, basketball,
wrestling, swimming, etc., continue
to be prohibited in all counties due to
the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
In an email with the Blue Moun-
tain Eagle, OSAA Assistant Executive
Director K.T. Emmerson said that vol-
leyball was not a contact sport.
“It is a minimal/medium con-
tact sport as defined by OHA and
is allowed in counties that are high,
moderate or lower risk,” Emmerson
said. “Volleyball competitions are
not allowed in extreme risk counties
at this time.”
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