COVID-19 has had a big effect on how area high school coaches schedule their athletic periods.
The Ray Texans boys basketball program has drastically altered its practice time.
The sounds of basketballs bouncing off the hardwood can be heard bright and early in the morning there.
How early?
Boys basketball coach Robert Dodd has scheduled his fourth period athletic class at 6:15 a.m. to help accommodate his players’ ever-changing class schedule – whether it is face to face in the classroom or zoom from home.
“It’s a good thing,” Dodd said. “You get to see the kids early in the morning and send them home so they can get to class or zoom or whatever they need to do.
“I enjoy it, kinda of getting it out of the way and starting the day with basketball.”
It obviously takes a lot of dedication to get up extra early and show up for practice at the crack of dawn. But you won't get any complaints from the players
"It's definitely different than going after school, but I am pretty much uses to it because I wake up earlier to get other workouts in,” Ray forward Anello Hill Zanoni said. “Yeah, we want to be good this year - probably better than last year - so we want to put in the work and get up here early.”
Dodd said the early workouts provides his team with a routine important during the pandemic.
"I think everyone needs a sense of normalcy right now,” he said. “They have been cooped up six or seven months and I think just the chance to get out here and shoot baskets is awesome. If is said is 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock in the morning, I think Ray kids would want to be out here wanting to play.”
The Texans’ start of the season is almost here as official practice starts in less than 10 days
