HAMMOND, La. – While the Southland Conference Presidents continue to meet and discuss the fall sports season, several schools have opted to delay the start of fall practice until a final decision is made.
Over at Southeastern Louisiana University, fall camp is underway.
“Hell yeah, they want to play. They want to be out here every day. They are here every day. They wouldn’t practice like this if they didn’t want to play,” says Southeastern Head Football Coach Frank Scelfo.
Wednesday, the Lions were in full pads for the first time this fall, anxiously awaiting the Southland Conference’s decision on the season.
Scelfo says, “If they let us play, we’re playing. If they keep us from playing, we won’t play but I know we are preparing to play against Tulane September 3rd.”
As of today, Southeastern has administered hundreds of COVID-19 tests and there have been zero positive cases.
2 players have opted out of the 2020 college football season.
“We’re following all of the state guidelines, the CDC guidelines, the NCAA guidelines. Not only the guidelines but the mandates. And what we are doing is we are putting all of those in place and we are educating our players every day,” added Scelfo.
This isn’t Frank Scelfo’s first time dealing with disaster.
He was on the Tulane coaching staff the same year Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
“We played 11 games in 11 different stadiums and it was tough on our players and our staff but we stuck together and the things that we can control, that’s what we did.”
Scelfo says right now, the one thing they can control is the sanctity of the Southeastern bubble and ensuring that is is the safest place for players to be this fall.
Scelfo says, “The chief medical officer at North Oaks told us that our players are safer here than if they went home and just hung out. We’ve got them in a contained environment, we’ve got medical insurance, we take care of all their medical needs. We’re feeding them, keeping them away from people, we’re hydrating them, we are doing all of the things we need to do to keep them safe and if they go home we can’t do those things.”
With medical professionals like Dr. Greg Stewart at Tulane saying that college football can proceed in a safe manner, Scelfo says, play ball.
“I didn’t go to med school. I graduated in PE and I’m proud of it and this is what I do. So, I count on those other guys to give us the advice that we need.Dr. Greg Stewart down at Tulane is the smartest individual that I know and all of those guys are saying, you know what, we can do this the right way and that’s what we’re doing. So, let us play,” says Coach Scelfo.
As of right now, The Southeastern Lions are scheduled to play the Tulane Green Wave Thursday, September 3rd at Yulman Stadium.