糖心Vlog

By Marlon W. Morgan

Those whistles blowing from E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field last spring were not from football coaches during spring practice. They came from officials as Western Carolina University鈥檚 football team actually played a pair of Southern Conference games.

The men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball teams found themselves having to make room in Ramsey Regional Activity Center for a full slate of volleyball games. Normally in the fall, their seasons would barely overlap. Women鈥檚 soccer was also thrown into the mix.

Last spring, every 糖心Vlog athletic team participated in their sport due to COVID-19, pushing back the original start dates of fall sports. Pulling that off logistically is one thing under normal circumstances. But try doing it during a pandemic, and abiding by the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Jackson County Department of Public Health, 糖心Vlog鈥檚 Catamounts Care, the NCAA and the Southern Conference.

That鈥檚 the dilemma 糖心Vlog鈥檚 athletic staff was faced with to start the 2021 calendar year. 

鈥淭he team really stepped up,鈥� said Alex Gary, director of athletics.  鈥淚t was hectic, to say the least. The task was more intimidating at first, but it went by so quickly because we were always doing something and then moving to the next thing.鈥�

A lot happened behind the scenes that allowed the sports to take place, seemingly without a hitch. The Ramsey Center proved to be one of the biggest challenges. Not only is it home to men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball, but also volleyball and football. Finding space for all four teams during the same season, while also adhering to occupancy and social distancing rules proved to be challenging, Rory Jimerson MS 鈥�19 said.

Depending on the size of the room, it could hold anywhere from 10 to 25 people. The football team alone has nearly 100 student-athletes, plus coaches. To stay compliant, the department relied heavily upon the university鈥檚 Office of University Counsel, in particular T.J. Eaves 鈥�12, who kept them abreast of the ever-changing guidelines.

鈥淚f men鈥檚 basketball was having a game, we had to create a bubble of this is only men鈥檚 basketball space,鈥� said Jimerson, director of athletic facilities. 鈥淭he other sports had to operate around the building to avoid crossing over them, so if we had to contact trace, we didn鈥檛 have different teams running into each other.鈥�

In football, each position held individual team meetings, so they often found themselves setting up projectors in storage rooms, or showing film on the Ramsey Center concourse against the walls. There were times when larger team meetings were held in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center, but even then, the performance hall could only hold about 75 people.

Jimerson said guidelines were established for each sport, such as where teams would enter, how they would be screened, who needed to get tested, how many fans would be allowed in the stadium, where does signage need to be placed to remind people to wear their mask and social distance, and where to place hand sanitizer.

鈥淭he first game for every sport was very stressful because you were like, 鈥榃hat is it actually going to be like?鈥欌�欌�� Jimerson said. 鈥淥nce we got the first game out of the way for every sport, we realized this is our setup and this is how we鈥檙e going to do it. We had to make some changes along the way to make things a little bit better, adding more signage, making people come in a different way, making sure they knew exactly what was expected of them when they got here.鈥�

Jimerson said North Carolina rules required 糖心Vlog to provide each fan with a complimentary ticket. In the past, sports like softball, soccer and volleyball weren鈥檛 ticketed. It was general admission, first-come, first-served. 鈥淭hat takes more people and more time,鈥� Jimerson said. 鈥淲hen you have multiple events going on at the same time, you can鈥檛 have one ticketing director be in multiple locations at once. So, you鈥檙e counting on other staff and students.鈥�

Daniel Hooker 鈥�01, assistant athletic director for media relations, made the decision early on that with the exception of football, he and his staff would not travel with their assigned teams as a means of mitigating some of the COVID-19 risk, as well as limiting costs. However, it did prevent his staff from participating in and covering the team interactions that came from being on the road together.

But that didn鈥檛 reduce the amount of work that needed to be done. For Hooker, who also doubles as a sportscaster, he found himself doing four to six games per week, as opposed to one or two in a normal semester. In February and March, there were only a couple of days that had no events, he said.

鈥淏usy has definitely been the word, but it鈥檚 been fun,鈥� Hooker said. 鈥淔or us, the games are what鈥檚 fun.鈥�

As a sportscaster, one of the hardest things for Hooker was keeping up with what sport he was doing. 鈥淭here were plenty of times you were going into a break and you鈥檙e sitting there thinking, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e listening to Catamount 鈥� basketball.鈥� It was interesting.鈥�

For Denise Gideon, director of media relations and social media director, she recalls one 10-day stretch being particularly rough. Baseball, softball and soccer were starting and basketball was winding down. With the demands piling up, Gideon said it took a toll on her health.

鈥淚 had a five-day span where I just had a headache for all five days,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was sore in my shoulders. I went to see a lady who is a masseuse, Carole Lilly, and she said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e like a rock.鈥� That鈥檚 when I figured out that this is a crazy season and you鈥檝e got to go full steam ahead, but there鈥檚 a point where you also have to step back and take care of yourself. After that horrid 10 days, I started saying, 鈥業鈥檝e got to take care of myself,鈥� making sure I was drinking enough water, and going to get a 30-minute chair massage.鈥�

Another challenge for the staff was finding enough workers to assist when multiple events were occurring. The department relied heavily on student workers to assist with gameday operations and helping with grounds work. 

Faculty and staff from across campus chipped in, like Greg McLamb, an education adviser, who normally assisted on the sidelines during football games, but found himself operating a video camera. People within the athletics department found themselves doing jobs they had never done before, like Dan Gibson, a compliance director, and several members of the Catamount Club, all of whom were behind cameras. They also enlisted the help of the video team from University Communications and Marketing.

鈥淲henever you鈥檙e going through something like this, you really have to lean on each other,鈥� Gary said. 鈥淭he folks across the campus have been extremely helpful, too. I learned that (our staff) really works well together. They communicate extremely well. Everybody asked a lot of questions because everybody wanted to make sure we were doing things the right way at the end of the day.鈥�

One of the reasons the department had to rely on recruiting more camera people is that the Southern Conference struck a new deal with ESPN in December, requiring each school to stream 65 athletic events, up from the previous requirement of 48. But instead of doing that in an entire school year, the bulk of it had to be done during the spring semester.

Fortunately, fiber optics had been recently installed at the facilities housing track and field, softball and soccer. But that also meant they couldn鈥檛 afford to have many events canceled or postponed due to weather or COVID-19.

鈥淲e did about 75 broadcasts in four months and a week. I look at that as a school record. It鈥檚 going to be hard to beat.鈥�

Noah Sautter 鈥�18, the athletic department鈥檚 director of video operations, set an ambitious goal of streaming close to 80 events. But after the final two home football games were canceled because of opponents鈥� concerns due to COVID-19, as well as several more in other sports, that number slowly dwindled.

鈥淭owards the end of the semester, you get to a point where things become stressful,鈥� Sautter said.

Sautter said they averaged streaming an event every day and a half. Very rarely were those events in the same venue back-to-back days, which meant following each event, they had to haul the equipment to the next venue. 鈥淚t was almost amazing how willing people were to step in and fill that role, regardless of where we put them, or what we asked them to do. They stepped in with an open mind. They came in and did the job to the best of their ability.鈥�

In the end, they streamed 67 athletic events, in addition to the hiring of new football and basketball coaches, and five commencement ceremonies in the Ramsey Center, leaving the team ecstatic over its accomplishment.

鈥淲e talk a lot about school records,鈥� Sautter said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a challenge when you come in as an athlete to break that bar that was set for you by somebody that came before you. We kind of joked that we did about 75 broadcasts in four months and a week, from the first basketball broadcast of the new year to the last commencement broadcast. I look at that as a school record. It鈥檚 going to be hard to beat. I can leave here and there鈥檚 no plaque, there鈥檚 no official recognition, but myself and our team came through and did a record number of events in a short amount of time. I think that鈥檚 something special we can look back on, regardless of whether people remember the name.鈥�

With fans back in the stands, and tailgating taking place, the athletic staff rejoices in working in normal conditions and fall sports participating in their appropriate season. But they have fond memories of what they went through in the spring.

鈥淚 would say I鈥檒l remember the fact that we were able to have some pretty solid competitive success, even in a very unstable and crazy year,鈥� said Gary, who also had to hire two coaches, negotiate a new apparel deal with Nike, and deal with social justice issues in the last year. 鈥淰olleyball had a great year. And softball. Bailey Honeycutt was softball player of the year, the first in the history of our softball program, which began in 2006. Men鈥檚 golf came in second in the SoCon Tournament, which is outstanding. Track has continued their competitive success, finishing in the top three.鈥�

鈥淒uring the COVID lockdown, I think we all took for granted the normal things,鈥� added Hooker. 鈥淏ut at the same time, we gained a new appreciation for things. I grew an appreciation for not having to work 12-hour days, being able to take time off and have weekends back and see how the other half lives for a little bit.鈥�

Is that the sound of the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band playing again?