Nobody knows for sure if there will be a high school football season in Nevada, but Pahrump Valley High School football coach Joe Clayton is making preparations for one.
The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s revamped calendar for the 2020-21 school year included Feb. 13 as the first day of football practice and March 5-April 10 as dates for competition.
But the Clark County School District, by far the state’s largest, already canceled its winter sports season, and without some form of in-person instruction by February — something the county’s teachers are extremely wary of — its schools will not play the “fall” sports season, either.
Even as Nevada is in the midst of the what, thus far, has been the worst phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, nobody knows how things will look in February. So being prepared is the only logical step to take.
“If Clark County schools are not able to go to school with a hybrid/in-class schedule, as we do, they will not have athletics,” Clayton said in a statement posted on the football team’s Facebook page. “The PVHS athletic department and myself are looking into other schools that we may have the opportunity to compete with.”
To that end, Clayton announced that training will begin immediately after the holidays.
“The current restrictions make it extremely difficult for our football program to train appropriately, however, after the holidays, we are going to resume training following all NIAA guidelines,” he said. “We will make it work with the coaches’, student-athletes’ and managers’ health and safety, always, our first and most important priority but still doing what we need to to be successful for the upcoming season.”
The Trojans did begin summer workouts, only to end them when it was announced the fall season would not happen during the fall. Clayton said the same rules for those workouts will apply.
“Starting Monday, Jan. 4, from 2:30-5:30 p.m., we will resume training,” Clayton said. “Make sure to have a face covering and your own water jug or bottle. Be there by 2:15 as we are still responsible for COVID-19 protocols that take extra time.”
Clayton, who last season became Pahrump Valley High School’s winningest football coach, reminded his players that while practice is almost two months away and workouts are almost two weeks away, their job begins before Jan. 4.
“Until then, you must prepare yourself as a football player by eating right (high protein, low-fat diet) and daily workouts to get ready for the upcoming football season that will begin in February,” he said.