Prep football: Redwood ramps it up at first official practice
After an offseason unlike any other, football teams around Marin county took a significant step on Monday — getting a chance to put on helmets and pads for the first official practice of the season.
“The energy has changed a lot,” Redwood receiver Zach Ginsburg said. “Today was the first day we could put on helmets. We got onto the field, started stretching and warming up and everyone was more into it, everyone felt a lot more energy. But we’ve tried really hard to keep our energy steady and the same throughout this whole process but finally knowing that we’re going to play, everyone picked it up a bit.”
It’s been between 15 and 16 months since teams wrapped up their seasons in 2019. Football practice for this season was initially pushed back into December before being delayed indefinitely during California’s stay-at-home order.
“When (the season) got pushed back to January and February, it looked really bad but we knew that if there was any chance that we’d get a chance we wanted to be on top of it,” Ginsburg said.
Football season was initially set to be canceled on Monday if Marin hadn’t progressed into the orange tier. Instead, teams around the county gathered for their first practices 10 days after many sports were given reprieves by the state on Feb. 19. After reviewing the new guidelines, Marin officially aligned with them Monday.
The new guidance allowed counties with less than 14 cases per 100,000 people to play football with state-provided COVID testing in the red tier.
“We’ve been so excited,’ Redwood receiver Damon Gerstein said. “I made so many phone calls when I found out we were playing, I just couldn’t stop smiling that whole day.”
Redwood players put on helmets for the first time since last season although the Giants opted against putting on the pads on Monday.
“We have to try to get as game ready as we can be and that’s pretty much it,” Redwood coach Allen Talley said. “We’ve gotta get into football shape. Guys are in shape but football shape is a little bit different.
“We have three weeks to get game ready. That’s our focus as a program.”
Talley now also doubles as a literal gatekeeper, taking temperatures and making sure players passed all their checks before they can take the field.
“We have to get a scan to give us our temperature,” Ginsburg said. “If anyone is too high or has a temperature, they have to go home. We have to do a health scan prior to practice with our parents before school and an attendance check to make sure we go to all our classes. No one can be missing classes or you can’t go (to practice). We have to get our hands sanitized before practice, too, and come with a mask.”
Returning to practice isn’t the only big step toward normalcy for Redwood this week. The school is reopening in a limited capacity for in-person learning on Tuesday.
“It will definitely be fun being back on campus and seeing each other, even if it’s from six feet,” Gerstein said. “Just being back inside the classroom will be good for the mental health.”
The Giants kick off the season with a rivalry game against Tam on March 20.
“All eyes are on Tam,” Gerstein said. “We’re going to take it one week at a time. … All our energy and focus is on that week 1 game against Tam. We’re ready to go. We’ve been ready for a while.”