LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The sound of coaches shouting out drills is back in some capacity for the summertime, but it's looking a little different.
Soccer fields normally filled with over a hundred kids for tryouts, now have only dozens at a time.
"It's a little strange," parent Brian Barrett said Tuesday evening. "This whole past few months he hasn't really gotten to do any sports at all."
For Brian Barrett's 16-year-old son Blake, it's exciting just to be back playing soccer for Mockingbird Valley Premier. But it's not "game on" the way athletes are used to.
"The illusion as you look at it, you have just a small number of players, so you see only 32 players out at one site. So you go 'wow that's not a lot.' But that's what we had to do to spread it out over a couple of weeks," Mike Dickey, Dir. of Coaching and Player Development for Mockingbird Valley Premier said.
The soccer club's tryouts are split into one-hour sessions for different age groups, and they'll last two weeks to spread out the smaller tryouts.
Looking at the fields in St. Matthews, the most obvious difference is how spaced apart the kids are. The players can't have contact with the equipment or each other. The coaching staff divided each player into their own box to conduct technical drills.
"It's disappointing because one of the most fun things about the game of soccer, is it can be physical at times," Dickey said. "Just the fact that we're outside now and able to play even without contact is much better than the alternative."
"He's a little disappointed, but not that bad. I mean he knows that eventually we'll get back to normal hopefully and he's just glad to be out there with his friends playing," Barrett said of his son, Blake.
Dickey said he knows the changes may cause some "uneasiness" for the players, but he said the goal is to keep moving forward, with the encouragement of things getting better.
"I'm sure there's a lot of things going on in their head mentally about 'okay what is soccer going to look like, this is strange,'" Dickey said. "We're following the rules and I believe they're the right rules and we're going to continue to do this until hopefully this is gone."
The club also kept the check-in process to a minimum, and all the kids brought their own hand sanitizer and ball, but aren't required to wear masks outside. Staff sanitize all of the equipment and do wear masks.
"If the precautions are there, we're not really worried and we really just can't wait to get back to normal," Barrett said.
"This is the best alternative and we're willing to make some small sacrifices," Dickey said.
Dickey said parents were asked to conduct temperature checks on their children at home before tryouts. He said the smaller groups are also intended to help with contact tracing, if needed.
"We're really excited. It's so fun to be outside on grass again and out with soccer balls and see the coaches and see the players," Dickey said.
Mockingbird Valley Sports Complex is also putting in place safety precautions at its indoor facility, in accordance with state guidelines.
Contact reporter Tyler Emery at temery@WHAS11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@TylerWHAS11) and Facebook.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
MORE ON WHAS11.COM
- Indiana schools get more guidance on return from COVID-19 closures
- JCPS proposes simplified plan to give more options, access to West Louisville students
- 'It's time to step up.' JCPS coaches open dialogue on racism, participate in protest
- UK cheerleading program now under athletic department's control following dismissal of coaches