Central soccer players help others amid coronavirus shutdown, Middle Tennessee tornado

Senior year is a culmination with many milestones. The last varsity sports season and senior night, walking across the stage at graduation, prom and senior trips.

After a whirlwind of cancellations, closures and postponed games, Central High seniors Trevor Holbert, Brodie Griffeth and Dylan Cole tried to remain optimistic, while wondering what’s next? While the TSSAA and TSSA were canceling a slew of sporting events, games and practices, Central’s Bobcats were warming up for their game against Seymour on March 12.

“We were all just talking about our experiences at Central and it kind of dawned on us that this could be our last game and we wanted to go out with a win,” Griffeth said.

“During the Seymour game (the other team) were really nice and we were joking about it and doing elbow bumps,” said Cole.

Within hours of speaking to these seniors, school was officially closed through April 3, and prom postponed indefinitely.

“The only answers were that things were getting canceled or postponed,” said head coach Chris Quinn, of the flurry of cancellations that day. “They look to adults for guidance and we, the adults, didn’t have answers. We had a team meal before that last game and it was important that we made things as normal as possible.”

In his six years coaching, this time of year always presents challenges when it comes to snow, illness, ice – and this year, flooding and a tornado in Middle Tennessee. “You do your best not to let those things be challenges, they just exist, things just are,” said Quinn.

“These closures now are relatively unprecedented, but they are salvageable. This speaks to our group of guys, our leadership on this team – from the oldest senior to the youngest freshman – there is a chemistry that I think can carry them through whatever cancellations we see on the horizon.”

Central Bobcats soccer played Cookeville the Saturday just before a tornado ripped through Putnam County. While Quinn said he had an idea to collect donations for those families affected by the tornado, he said it was a credit to the students and parents who donated at the March 12 home game against Seymour.

Donations collected at the gate included over $300 in gift cards, canned and packaged goods and water.

“Before the game, my mind went to Cookeville and their players,” said Quinn. “Cookeville lived out the uncertainty my boys are feeling – my thoughts went outwards to them. One of our team goals was to think less about the individual and think more about the ‘we,’ and our players are living that out.”

Cole and Griffeth hoped to resume games mid-April. Holbert felt they could still salvage the "important" games of the season. “I was excited for the season when I saw what the team was going to look like,” Griffeth said.

Cole, as the eldest child in his family, said he was looking forward to being the first in his family to attend graduation at Thompson Boling Arena. “When I was a junior, I never thought it (the season) would be canceled due to a virus,” added Holbert.

Quinn was thrilled with the result of that potentially last game against Seymour. “In the face of everything, that game was absolutely brilliant, they played so well and it put us at 2-0 in the season,” he said. “Beyond the atmosphere, it truly was a complete game when there was uncertainty and so much going on. All of those young men stepped up and I was so proud. If that is our last game, what a game to end on – it was a complete game.”