Coming off of a 2-9 record last year, the Wildcat football team was looking to bounce back with a big season this year. That all changed Feb. 23, when it was announced that East would not field a football team this season.
“I was kind of bummed,” said junior wide receiver Trip Williams. “We put a lot of work in, but we also knew it wasn’t really safe to put people who didn’t have a lot of experience out there.”
There was minimal turnout this year, nowhere near the 40-70 players needed to make up most high school football teams. Given the new NCHSAA athletic calendar, and the overlap of football with popular sports like boys’ basketball and lacrosse, some multi-sport athletes were unable to join the Wildcat football team this season. Due to the low turnout of interested players, most of the linemen would have had to play on both offense and defense without much rest in-between.
“We had less than 20 (players) the whole time. But the biggest problem was the O-line, and the lack of numbers,” senior kicker Nick Demasi said. “Most of the (linemen) would have been going both ways… It wouldn’t have been safe for them.”
The lack of experience, specifically on the offensive line, was a big factor in deciding whether or not to forego the upcoming football season. Head coach Brian Nunn cited a more specific reason for cancelling the season, commenting on a “lack of support” that translated into the minimal turnout of players this year.
“East Chapel Hill High School is not a blue collar sports high school,” said Nunn, who took over the football program in May of 2018. “What I mean by blue collar sports is sports like wrestling and football. There’s a lack of kids’ support, parents’ support and community support.”
This is something that East has struggled with in the past, even before the pandemic. In 2017 the program was dropped after four consecutive years of being unable to field a JV team. That year, East Chapel Hill notably played only at the junior varsity, and has used the past few years to build back up to a competitive level.
Moving forward, the East football squad will be in the weightroom three times a week, building up strength and conditioning to prepare for a spring season. They hope to take part in 7-on-7 leagues later in the year to get some non-contact competition before the return to high school football in the fall of 2021.
While the Wildcat football team is taking these steps to ready themselves for the fall season, Nunn says they need the support of the school.
““We need the school’s support,” Nunn said. “A lot of times in the previous two years, the only games people have come to have been the Carrboro games. They didn’t even show up to the Chapel Hill [games] for the most part. We were heading in the right direction before the pandemic hit, but we really need the student body to say, ‘Let’s have a well-rounded athletic program.’… Let’s build up some of the sports that are traditional.”
Photo by Shelby Swanson/The ECHO
