THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Back to what feels normal again

Where there’s smoke, there’s sports.

Or at least, that’s how it has seemed in the last few years to a lot of coaches in the area.

Throw in that pandemic last fall, and things were a little bit chaotic for more than just those on the field in 2020.

THE GOOD news is that, at least for now, things are getting back to normal.

For example, today starts the Coeur d’Alene Shootout 3-on-3 basketball tournament on the campus of North Idaho College. It is the first time that the tournament, typically a fundraiser for the athletic department, has been held since 2018.

“This has been a huge blessing for our entire athletic department,” NIC men’s basketball coach Corey Symons said. “We didn’t have it in 2019 due to the (NWAC) sanctions and again last year because of the pandemic. It’s just nice to be into our normal routine and get a chance to have some players come and enjoy our campus before we kick off the semester.”

Symons added that the tournament, which usually brings in 230 teams, has 115 signed up to play, likely due to the smoke in the area, or the pandemic.

“It’s about half the size it normally is,” Symons said. “Not doing it the last few years, there’s a reason why we don’t have as many teams. But we’re excited to have it up and going again.”

Earlier this week, NIC put its mask mandates on indoor events back in place for the next two weeks, including the volleyball team’s season-opening tournament next Friday and Saturday at both Christianson Gymnasium and the school’s student wellness and recreation center. Among the teams scheduled to play are the Carroll JV, Northwest College of Powell, Wyo., Yakima Valley and Walla Walla.

“We’ll still be able to have spectators, but they’ll need to have a mask,” NIC athletic director Bobby Lee said. “The student-athletes that are playing won’t have to wear one, but those on the bench will, and we’ll have those bench areas set up for that. But we’re fired up to host a tournament on campus. We haven’t done much of that in recent years, and having the wellness center really helps for having an extra court.”

WHILE THE smoke might have prevented some Lakeland football activities last week, the team still kicked off the season on Friday night in Butte, Mont., against Preston.

“Normally, we have an extra week to work on some special teams and those kind of things,” Lakeland coach Tim Kiefer said. “But we didn’t really have a chance because of the air conditions. It just kind of accelerated things. We usually try to do some fun things in practice and team-building stuff that we had to eliminate this season. It changed how we usually prepare for games 100 percent.”

Lakeside, which opens next Friday against Lewis County (a co-op of Highland, Nezperce and Culdesac high schools), has been cautious of more than just the fires in the Plummer area this week.

“We managed to get through last year without anything holding us up,” Lakeside football coach Chris Dohrman said. “This year, we’re maybe in more peril of having the COVID issues within our program. We’re not quite as diligent at doing some of the things we were last year like washing and sanitizing hands. And a lot of the kids on our team aren’t vaccinated, so we have to be cautious about it. (COVID) is still here, and some people are more relaxed and over it, even if it’s not over. We were fortunate to be able to get through the football and basketball season last year. We still got to play.”

And they will. Hopefully with a lot less of those off-the-field hurdles than last fall.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.