Prep staff has become more enterprising than ever
March 13 will be a day the high school sports staff at the Daily Herald will always remember.
It wasn't the day, as we expected it to be, when the boys basketball teams from Aurora Christian and Timothy Christian won their state semifinal games to advance to the championship contests the next day.
March 13 was the day the Illinois High School Association canceled the state tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns.
That day, and the days ahead, became a time like our prep sports staff, and for that matter all of us, have never seen.
The global pandemic, which eventually caused the cancellation of all spring sports, has become a time in which our prep staff has become more enterprising and innovative than ever.
There are no games to cover, no championships to report on, no thrills of victory or agonies of defeat for us to tell our readers about.
But did we curl into a ball and quit working, hoping games would resume soon?
Far from it. Instead, we kicked our creative juices into gear and began reporting on myriad topics that were poignant and compelling to the situation.
Each member of our nine-person prep sports staff has contributed story after story on our athletes, coaches and teams. We've told you how they're dealing with the shutdown, the things they're doing to stay sharp in their chosen sport, and we've told you how the IHSA and school administrators are coming up with post-pandemic plans. And so much more.
We've also looked back on some of the great times of the past in high school sports. Our series of Top 10s - quarterbacks, team dynasties and basketball players - has been a big hit with readers and we will continue to provide content such as that until games resume.
We're also looking forward to our Preps Excellence awards and athletes of the year stories, even though we won't be having the annual event at the Sears Centre to celebrate these athletes.
In addition to that, our prep staff has also showed how much versatility they possess by working a couple of news shifts each week. As the one who has coordinated our schedules, from staff schedules to story schedules and then some, it's warmed my heart and made me exceptionally proud to see the way our staff members have embraced and adjusted to their new responsibilities. They are aces in my book.
We all hope high school events resume in August. Time, and science, will tell. But until then, you can rest assured our prep sports department will continue to provide our readers with compelling content.
When games resume, we'll go back to doing what we do best. But then, what we've done since March 13 and what we'll continue to do, has become the best of the best.