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08/31/2020 12:00 AMThe members of the Branford football team are staying optimistic that they will get to play football this fall, although the Hornets are also preparing themselves for the possibility that the opposite scenario may still occur.
After putting all fall sports activities on hold a few weeks ago, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) recently announced that teams could start participating in non-contact sport-specific skillwork in groups of 10 people or fewer on Aug. 29. The CIAC also announced that the six-game regular season is now tentatively scheduled to get underway on Thursday, Oct. 1, instead of Thursday, Sept. 24.
While the Hornets are excited to return to the football field for practice, Head Coach John Limone doesn’t want his players to jump to any conclusions about the likelihood of playing the campaign.
“We have to manage expectations. The kids see an announcement from the CIAC, and they get really excited. At the end of the day, we have to kind of remind them that it’s all part of the process,” Limone said. “I’ve been saying to the kids to be hopeful for a season whenever that is, but also prepare ourselves for some bad news. It’s important to look at this logically. If something comes that we didn’t want, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise.”
Branford started its conditioning in mid-July, participating in 45-minute sessions for two weeks. Limone said the Hornets did everything they could to put together a plan and get approval for their conditioning. Limone and his fellow coaches also made sure that they were upfront with the players and had an open dialogue about the state of a potential season.
When the CIAC brought the conditioning sessions to a pause, Limone had to start holding his practices virtually. Coaches would email workout plans to the players and communicate through Google Classroom. As the team shifted to this new online format, the Hornets spent less time discussing football and more time about staying together as a team.
“We didn’t really do anything football related. You spend a lot of time building a culture and an atmosphere with the kids. I have a large senior class that have been together since they were little kids. Football is just a way of life for them,” said Limone. “We thought it was important in finding a balance in bombarding and having open-minded communication and keeping them together. We feel strongly that culture and those relationships you forge are the most important.”
The Hornets were slated to hold their first non-contact practice of the year on Sept. 1. Limone said the team was going to continue its conditioning and also begin with skillwork. The coach credited his athletes for maintaining a positive attitude through all the ups and downs of the past few months. Now, he wants them to follow the guidelines and control what they can as they adapt to the new parameters.
On the heels of its second-straight 6-4 season, Branford features 16 athletes in its senior class in 2020. Running back/defensive back Kamryn Holmes and two-way lineman Dan Schwartz were recently named the Hornets’ captains for the season.
Coach Limone said he’s happy to have such a big group of seniors that’s full of leaders. He said they’ve done a great job of helping the Hornets manage the uncertainty that’s permeated throughout the offseason.
“My whole senior class, we hadn’t seen them since March, and it was obvious they were doing some work on their own. Our kids are in pretty good shape. They have good work ethics,” Limone said. “We were sending them workouts, and it was pretty obvious they were doing things on their own. We had six finalists for captains. We have good leadership with this group. They’ve done a great job of hanging in there. They know what it takes to compete on a Friday night.”
Limone understands how important it is for the seniors to play their last season at Branford. While he’s hoping that the CIAC’s current plan sticks and the Hornets get to compete, Limone also hopes that this whole experience will teach his athletes that football is about much more than just the wins and losses.
“Whether we play or we don’t play, it’s a good opportunity for kids to learn about when things don’t go the way you want them to. You have to be able to adjust, and you have to stay together,” said Limone. “We’re still a team. It isn’t just going to practice and playing in a game that makes you a team. It’s not just Friday night that makes a team special. It’s the locker room, the group chats. It’s all the time they spend together. Hopefully, we’ve equipped them over the last few years to deal with some of these challenges.”