One positive COVID-19 test can quickly alter a school’s plans as well as disrupt sports activities, as La Cañada High School administrators and coaches learned last week.
In accordance with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health guidelines, the school canceled what was supposed to be the varsity football team’s final game of the season against Monrovia, after four people, including one student, tested positive for the coronavirus.
LCHS head coach Jason Sarceda broke the news to his players last Thursday.
“It was definitely a hard pill to swallow for us, but we went into the season just happy to play one game,” said Sarceda, who added that all players and coaches are healthy and safe. “All offseason since COVID hit, we kept that kind of mentality to just be grateful for what’s given to us. Our administration worked so hard to keep us on the field and allow us to work.”
The Spartans finished the shortened season with a 3-1 record. After dropping the opener against South Pasadena, La Cañada bounced back with victories over Santa Paula, Glendale and San Marino.
“At the end of the day, we walk away like we had a great season,” Sarceda said. “In a short period of time, I feel like we accomplished a lot and we got a lot better. I’m happy our seniors got to play. I wanted that for them.”
La Cañada isn’t wasting time in preparing for the fall. The coaching is in the process of developing workout regimens for each player that committed to football in the offseason.
“We took no days off and went right back,” Sarceda said. “We already tested their speed and started weightlifting. We encouraged a lot of players to go on to another sport and get the high school experience. Fortunately for us, we have quite a few kids that wanted to stick to football, so we’re setting up workouts four days a week.”
