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PHS track coach has a heavy heart

Photo Provided Parkersburg High School head boys track coach Rod O'Donnell holds the 2014 Class AAA state trophy.

PARKERSBURG — Rod O’Donnell has been around and experienced a lot as an athlete and coach.

However, the Parkersburg High School boys head man since 2014 is going through the new normal with everyone else of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time since he was 12, O’Donnell isn’t going to the track as an athlete or to lead them.

“I have never thought about retiring, unless something happens to me or I’m sick,” admitted O’Donnell, who noted this spring marked his 50th year of coaching. “I felt that way for a long time.

“This confirms I’m right. There’s no way I’m getting out of this. I’ve done everything, some writing, working out, hiking, none of that fills the void that the coaching does.”

The coach led the Big Reds to the Class AAA state title in his first season and was excited to see what would transpire the next couple of months.

“I think with our team this year, again, we didn’t have huge numbers,” he said. “We had a great group of seniors this year and some kids who came out the first time. They were enjoying it and they were super.

“Early in a season, you know the trend it’s going to go. You’re either ‘no, oh boy’ or ‘oh, oh, yeah, it’s going to be fun’ and the seniors I had for four years I won’t have around anymore. It’s hard to say goodbye to those kids.”

The difficult part isn’t just saying goodbye, but also not watching the athletes develop throughout the year.

Along with not getting to see the culmination of their efforts from meet to meet and then potentially pay dividends at the state championships, there’s also no banquet or senior day.

“We’ve got some guys who are still training,” added the coach. “It’s a tough blow to these kids. For many kids, this is the last time they do it.”

Despite the fact most felt the writing was on the wall and the season was going to be canceled, that’s something nobody wanted to really think about.

O’Donnell tried to stress to his team “they were going to be OK. That Friday when they told us we weren’t going to have school and no practice, we talked to them about that and sent them workouts. They had to do them on their own and not large groups, obviously. They had to adhere to that.

“It’s a difficult call because you can’t be discouraging. That’s the last thing you want under these circumstances. The number one thing is the health of the people, including the kids. I know people say this, but this is the most serious situation that probably anybody in this country has ever been in.”

Memories were few and far between this spring for the coach, but there is one day he will remember for quite some time.

“This is a symbolic example,” he noted. “The first day in spikes every kid remembered to bring them.

“They were into it. They were thinking and that was the mark of a good group.”

Unfortunately for O’Donnell, all this free time has allowed the mind to go in many different directions. He knows it’s the same for his student-athletes.

“These are things, kind of psychological things, that are very, very hard on kids,” added the coach. “My heart breaks when I think of the kids who go out there and bust it and really want to do it and our team was like that.

“It’s just taken away. I’m not being critical of it being taken away. This is a different thing. It’s not like someone said we don’t like this sport. We’re not going to have it. It had to end just for this country to survive.”

At times the struggle is real for O’Donnell, who admitted he even “kind of had some fun” when he went through and cleaned out some old files his better half Cathy had been asking him to take care of.

“I know I use the word I, but I just feel bad for the kids and the athletes,” admitted O’Donnell, who recently got a 96% on his written conceal carry test. “It’s an important thing to them and it’s a hard sport to begin with. It takes a lot of sacrifice. I just feel bad for them and sometimes I wish I didn’t love it as much as I do and I wouldn’t lay in bed at night worrying.

“This too will pass. It’s going to be OK. There’s going to be a track season next year. We’re going to appreciate it more because it was taken away. We know what it’s like without it. Saturdays in the spring weren’t meant for mowing grass. They were meant for getting out there and getting it. We have to be positive. Next spring is close. We’ll get through it and we’ll appreciate those long yellow bus rides wherever we go.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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