The trend of virtual gatherings continued last week for Gilmer High School’s college-bound athletes.
After COVID-19 (coronavirus) forced the cancellation of the school year, and with social distancing practices in place, GHS had to find a way to recognize those who will continue their academic and athletic careers in college.
Over the course of last Thursday, five Bobcats and Lady Cats were celebrated online and able to enjoy the moment with family, friends, coaches and teammates.
“It was kind of an impromptu way of making sure we recognized these kids for their accolades and ability to sign at the next level,” said GHS athletic director Matt Johnson, who ran the day’s proceedings. “We have done a lot of Google Meets with our teachers throughout the year, and it seemed like an easy way of doing it.”
Those recognized for receiving scholarships included softball player Emily Dale, soccer player Catarina Tercero-Rafael and wrestlers Caleb Waddell, John Gaines and Karina Montoya-Gonalez.
Dale will attend Emmanuel College, Tercero-Rafael will make her way to Point University, Waddell will wrestle at the University of Tennessee — Chattanooga, Gains will head to Truett McConnell University and Montoya-Gonzalez will wrestle for William Penn University in Iowa.
“I wanted to recognize each individual separately so they could involve their family and friends and make it more personable,” said Johnson. “In a way, we were trying to recreate what it would look like during their time in the auditorium (under normal circumstances).”
In the days leading up to the ceremonies, Johnson met with each individual to ensure there were minimal technical mishaps.
“I did a practice signing with each kid just to make sure their audio and video was working and to get an idea of what their backdrop was going to look like,” he said. “I wanted to inform them it was going to be recorded and how we were going to take screen shots and photos.”
For each ceremony, athletes were given a chance to speak, as were family, coaches and friends. The recording of each signing was given to the athlete and they were also posted on Gilmer High’s Facebook page.
Those involved with the ceremonies had a positive response.
“Everybody was very grateful for the way it was done,” Johnson said. “The feedback I got was that it was very personable, which is what I was hoping to obtain. We wanted people to be able to speak on behalf of the student athletes and we got a lot of that. It was a mixture of future coaches, former coaches, family members, teachers and some friends chimed in.
“It went better than I expected. I was a little bit nervous about how we would execute it, but in the end I was very pleased.”
Johnson noted that more GHS athletes may sign with colleges in the coming weeks.