On Friday, June 19, 2020, the Big Spring Girls Softball Association announced that one of their coaches had tested positive for COVID-19 and that the team had been notified. 

The organization also immediately reached out to City of Big Spring staff, Big Spring Fire Chief Craig Ferguson, and the Texas Health Department to inquire how to proceed with the season. It was determined that the common areas of the softball complex would be disinfected nightly and BSGSA would provide hand sanitizer. 

“We want to provide a good, clean, safe environment for not only the players, but for any of the spectators that are out,” said Johnny DeLeon, BSGSA President and City of Big Spring Parks and Recreation Committee Member.

According to DeLeon, all agencies contacted advised that the organization was cleared to continue with the season.

Recently, DeLeon addressed concerns in an open letter to citizens, players, parents, and coaches of Big Spring. In it, he reminded that BSGSA is a recreational league and they do not actively recruit players. He noted that parents register and pay for their children to play, and injuries and illnesses are always a possibility.

DeLeon also explained why refunds were denied, stating that recreational sports leagues are non-profit organizations and the money charged is just enough for the league to get started. He advised that when the COVID-19 precautions took effect, uniforms, insurance, equipment, and various other fees had already been paid, and a refund would have been minimal. 

Ultimately, he emphasized that board members, coaches, and other league personnel are all volunteers who donate their time, attention, and love to their players. 

“We are a quality of life program,” said DeLeon of the league. “We want these girls to go out and have a good time, to learn sportsmanship, to learn teamwork, to develop a skill that they may not otherwise know they had. Some of these girls will never play any other sport, some of these girls will go on to play multiple sports, but we want to instill that confidence in them that they are eligible to go out and do things, and that’s the only reason we continue to do what we do.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Big Spring ISD named top Lady Steer Assistant Coach Audrey Dunn as the new Head Girls' Coach in Track & Field.

Coach Audrey Dunn was recognized in 2019 as the Texas Girls' Coaches Association classes 1A-4A's Track & Field's Assistant Coach of the Year. She has also served the Lady Steers' basketball program as an outstanding varsity assistant. 

According to BSISD Athletic Director Mike Ritchey, Coach Dunn has played a major role in developing Lady Steer athletes from Junior High through High School. The Lady Steer track program is respected and tradition rich, and Coach Dunn has been critical in the many track successes the program has celebrated during her tenure as an assistant coach. 

He went on to state that BSISD is confident that Coach Dunn will continue to build on what is already one of the top track and field programs in the State of Texas.

Earlier this month, UIL schools in Texas were allowed to begin UIL Summer Strength and Conditioning and Sport Specific Instruction. 

Cannon McWilliams, Head Football Coach for Big Spring High School, told KBest News that there are restrictions that must be followed in order to have summer workouts. According to McWilliams, athletes are required to stay 10 feet apart from each other when inside, and 6 feet apart when outside. All workout equipment must be wiped down after use, and hand sanitizer is now readily available. In addition to this, the school cannot provide towels nor workout gear, and students are not allowed to use the water fountain. 

Even though there are restrictions and guidelines to follow, Coach McWilliams says he and the staff are excited to get to work with the kids again. 

Forsan High School Athletic Director Jason Phillips told KBest News that they only have high school athletes working out at this time and junior high students will begin June 29th. Phillips stated that athletes have been focusing on strength and conditioning. 

"We're focusing on strength and conditioning just because we had three months there that we were sending workouts at home. You got some kids that do them, some kids that don't do them but it's not the same [intensity] as being here, around coaches and each other," said Coach Phillips. 

When asked how kids were reacting to returning to workouts, Coach Phillips said that kids were excited to get back to a sense of normalcy.  

According to Coahoma ISD Athletic Director Chris Joslin, Coahoma saw approximately 179 student athletes in the first week of summer workouts. When asked how it feels to be included in summer workouts and to see that just as much focus is given to female sports and spring sports as there is with fall sports, Mackenley Overton, CHS Senior and multi-sport athlete, stated that it makes female students feel like equals. 

"It gives a drive and something to look forwards to, rather than just being someone that goes to games. They actually want to see us succeed," said Overton.

Another multi-sport athlete CHS Senior Julia Cox also added that coaches are allowing them to work on sport specific skills.

"They're allowing us to work on things such as volleyball, softball, and basketball. So, being able to have those times of days to be able to work on our sport really makes us feel a lot more included," said Cox. "Football [athletes] I know last year got to come out here a lot and we really didn't get to work on our sports. So, it's really helping everybody and makes us feel super included."

Summer workouts are set to continue this week for CISD and BSISD. Forsan ISD announced today, 06/22/2020, that due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the area, they will postpone summer strength and conditioning workouts until more information can be gathered. The situation will be reevaluated later this week.

The UIL announced last month that high school sports and marching band practices are allowed to return on June 8, along with safety guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

These guidelines include one coach to every 20 players, only 25% capacity inside gyms, all equipment must be disinfected after each use, no shared water bottles or food, and all practices must be optional.

Additionally, Big Spring High School athletes will be screened each day for health and encouraged to take their temperature daily. They’ll also have staggered start times and beginning stations will be spread out to ensure social distancing.

Read more at:

COVID-19 Strength & Conditioning and Sport Specific Instruction - 

https://www.uiltexas.org/athletics/covid-19-strength-conditioning-2020

Summer Marching Band Practices and Rehearsals - 

https://www.uiltexas.org/music/marching-band/marching-band-summer-practices-rehearsals-2020

Pt. 1, 04/30/2020 - Earlier this week, the Leggett Family held a Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby. Landon, won a score of 9, but his sister is protesting the win.

Pt. 2 - Last month, the Leggett Family of Coahoma, held a Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby. Landon had won with a score of 9, but his sister Paisley had protested the win. Recently, the Legget household had another round of Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby.  Paisley was able to claim her long-awaited victory over her brother by edging out Landon with a final score of 6-5.

The Duforat Family recently had a spirited and educational game of Yahtzee. Mom, Amanda, won the game. Although Matthew claimed he won, he did come in second. Brother David took 3rd place, and sister Emilie came in 4th but was able to use the game as math practice.

After beating Mother Edna Ramirez at Uno, Kato was joined by sister Kaylene after she awoke from a deep slumber, ready to take on the day.

Kaylene won her first round of Uno against Kato. After that they moved on to play a different game called Pop the Pig. After several rounds, they lost count of who had more wins. In the end, they called it a draw because they had so much fun.

Information and photo submitted by Edna Rivera.

Stepbrothers Elijah Muniz, 7, and Elijah Arriaga, 13, raced against each other on their bikes under the light of a rare pink moon. Eye witnesses reported that the event was a nail-biting race as Muniz held the lead for the majority of the race until the very end where Arriaga suddenly came up from behind to take the win. A rematch will definitely be needed soon.

Story and photo submitted by Kimberly Muniz.

Victor and Mia of Big Spring competed in a game of Ninja Turtle Feeding. In this Pizza Switcharoo, they tricked the turtles into eating healthy quarantine orange snacks, instead of pizza. 

This game required skill and patience as the youngsters waited on the turtles to approach. Turtle Michaelangelo came in 1st with a nibble off of Mia’s orange, but shortly after that the biggest bite came from turtle Donatello, making Victor the overall orange feeding champion.

Turtles Raphael and Leonardo didn’t fall for the food switcharoo! 

Information and Photo submitted by Kim Paredez.

Anthony, Nikko, and Zylie had several challenging games of Twister on the trampoline this week!

After many rounds, Anthony came out victorious in 6 out of 10 rounds. Little Nikko was just glad to be in the mix.

Story and photos submitted by Lauren Ruiz.

Friday night, the Laplante family had a pizza competition. Each family member made their own personal pizza and the winner was the old favorite and delicious extra cheesy double pepperoni pizza made by Annabell Laplante. She celebrated her victory with her bestie Alexa via FaceTime.

Tied in a close second were Trinity’s Italian meat & olive pizza and mother Stephanie's Italian supreme.

Travis was quite amused with his choice to live on the wild side by placing a single pineapple in the center of his pizza, which he later picked off.

Abigail made the sauce-less Cyclopes pizza and dad, Nick, ate his mountain of meat before the judges got to it.

Over the weekend, the YMCA in Big Spring distributed over 150 basketballs and footballs for free to local kids outside of the local facility and by driving through some of the neighborhoods. According to Dathan Jones, Big Spring YMCA CEO, this was done in an effort to help keep kids in the community active and safe during these uncertain times.

Beginning today, the facility will be posting online basketball training classes will begin today and can be found on the Facebook page for Big Spring YMCA Youth Basketball 2020.

Jones told KBest News that the YMCA in Big Spring will continue to do their part in helping the community by pushing creative ideas and ways that they can connect to the community within the Federal guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19.

COAHOMA — The Bulldogettes dropped their season opener to the Clyde Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday night, losing 9-2.

Clyde racked up four runs scored in the first inning on an RBI double by Maddi Kirksey and a three-RBI home run by Brooke Wilder. Coahoma got out of the inning after outfielder Shae Lang caught a fly ball for the third out.

Coahoma third baseman Joycelyn Olivarez zapped the Bulldogettes with a jolt of energy when she homered on a 1-1 pitch to left field, but unfortunately, the rally was short lived. Clyde pitcher Kaitlyn Turner struck out the next batter to retire the side, and the Lady Bulldogs big batters drove in four more runs scored in the second inning.

Coahoma pitcher MaKynlee Overton and her team were able to halt Clyde’s onslaught for the rest of the game, however, the Bulldogettes were unable to get their offense going. 

Coahoma’s only other score came in the fourth inning when Overton ripped a ground ball to left field for a single which sent Olivarez, who was sitting at third base after she belted a triple, over home plate. Olivarez led Coahoma at bat going 2-for-3 and scored the only two runs for the Bulldogettes. 

After a tough start in the circle, Overton sacrificed only one more run over the next five innings. She threw a total of 131 pitches, got 86 strikes including seven strikeouts. 

Next: Coahoma (0-1, 14-5-1)  hosts Monahans at 5 p.m. on Friday. The JV game begins at 6:30 p.m.

No. 12 CLYDE 9, COAHOMA  2      

Clyde: 440 001 0 -- 9 13 0

Coahoma: 100 100 0 -- 2 3 0

W — Kaitlyn Turner. L — MaKynlee Overton. 2B: Clyde — Sierra Inman 2, Maddi Kirksey. 3B: Coahoma — Jocelyn Olivarez. HR: Clyde — Brooke Widener; Coahoma — Jocelyn Olivarez. SB: Clyde — Turner, C. Compton. Pitches-Strikes: Clyde —Turner 90-57 (4 strikeouts, 1 walk); Coahoma — Overton 131-86 (7 strikeouts, 2 walks). 

Coahoma at-bat: Madison Rodgers, 0-for-2, 1 walk; Ashley Romero, 0-for-3; Jocelyn Olivarez, 2-for-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI; MaKynlee Overton 1-for-3, 1 RBI; Macee Grant 0-for-3; Caitlyn Corley 0-for-2; Kenzi Canales 0-for-2; Shae Lang 0-for-2, Alex Bailey 0-for-2.