Country Day forced to forfeit semi-final game due to COVID-19

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte Country Day football team was forced to forfeit its state semi-final matchup against Charlotte Christian Friday night.

A member of the Country Day football program tested positive for COVID-19, which led to a disappointing end to an already trying season.

“A lot of times, whether you win or lose, you get to be with the kids that last game,” coach Drew Whitman said. “The highs, the lows of it. That’s what really hit me telling the kids.”

[NCHSAA says student-athletes must wear masks during indoor games, practices]

Thursday was one of the most difficult days in Whitman’s coaching career.

Football practice was canceled, then school officials met with their partners at Atrium Health and the decision was made to shut down the program.

Whitman held the season’s final meeting on Zoom with 14 seniors that night.

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He highlighted that the team was fortunate to have a season at all in 2020.

The Buccaneers played five games. They held practice, while everything else in their lives turned upside down. They still had football.

“There was normalcy there, and there was a lot of work that went into it,” Whitman said. “And a lot of commitment by the kids and our administration, and I think when you look at that, that was powerful and there’s not a lot of kids that were able to do any of that this fall.”

Whitman said he will try to focus on the positive aspects that came out of the season, rather than how it ended.