ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A band practiced in the distance. Players hit the blocking sleds. Quarterbacks barked out the snap count.
The sounds of fall are finally back.
Sure, it’s later than normal. The opening night of the regular season should have kicked off last week. But the coronavirus pandemic has put the country on lockdown since mid-March and the Florida High School Athletic Association took three board of directors’ votes to finally agree on a starting date for sports here.
That was Monday.
For most teams around the area, practice was scheduled in the afternoon and early evening. For Menendez High School, it came bright and early.
The Falcons held the first practice of fall in St. Johns County with a 7 a.m. start time, shaking off a humid morning and a brief rain shower to squeeze in a long-awaited practice that’s been months in the making.
Since spring football practice was wiped out by the coronavirus, Monday was the first time that teams had been permitted to conduct an actual practice since last November.
“It was good,” junior linebacker Tabias Brown said of the first day of practice. “It was definitely a challenge [this summer]. We came out here with a challenge and an intensity to compete.”
The Falcons have the only new coach among St. Johns County’s six public schools. Kenny Sanchez was hired in late June at Menendez. Sanchez would have been a major hire anywhere he landed, but he was a seismic get for the Falcons. Sanchez went 65-7 with four state championships in five seasons at national powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas before stepping down last January.
Moving halfway across the country during a pandemic, Sanchez and his family traded the dry desert heat for the humidity and beaches of Florida. Virtual team meetings and talking to players in bits and pieces after his hire was one thing. But putting the helmets on and getting out on the field is another.
Sanchez said that coaches love practice. With roughly a month delay to start the season — July 27 was originally the first day — getting to Monday was a big first step for coaches across the area.
“Football’s like anywhere else anywhere I’ve been. You get there, you have a plan put in place, you get organized, you get your assistant coaches organized, you get your team organized and then you start working, you just start chopping wood so that’s what we’ve been doing,” he said.
“Now today’s the first day of official football. The good thing for all the kids around the city and state is that there’s light at the end of the tunnel, right. The hardest part is the dog days of summer when you’re practicing, and the coach is still telling you to do everything 100%. Is your assignment sound, is your technique fanatical. The game seems so far off [in the summer]. Now, we’re three weeks away, [the] payday’s coming so that’s a good thing.”
Bartram Trail coach Darrell Sutherland said that getting to the first day of practice means something different this year. Players have been permitted to work out since mid-summer, but putting the helmets on and going through a full practice is something entirely different.
“There’s definitely been a pep in their step,” he said. “We’ve been conditioning since June 15. Guys have done a great job of coming in every day and working to get better. We tell them all the time if you strive to get better you will. And that’s been their attitude every day. They come in and work their tails off. But you can tell there’s definitely a little different energy today.”
The official kickoff for fall sports is Sept. 4, although the bulk of area public school districts won’t start until after that.
Clay, Duval, St. Johns and Union counties have pushed kickoffs back there to Sept. 11. Columbia County will start practices the week of Sept. 7. Flagler County will start practices on Sept. 5.
Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Nassau and Putnam counties will all start their regular seasons on Sept. 4.