Mikayla Nagl is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Coronado High School for AZPreps365.com

Coronado has taken on the pressure of hosting the playoff games yet again this year. The school will be hosting AIA 1A and 1B teams for football, soccer and volleyball state playoff games. However, the pressure has become even more intense due to unprecedented circumstances brought out because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. 

Despite the coronavirus forcing sports to be canceled in other parts of the country, fall sports in Arizona are still happening. It is vital that these games still occur in order to let students from all around the state have every opportunity possible to succeed in their athletics and education, according to Anthony Miller, Coronado’s athletic director. 

Safety guidelines have been put in place in hopes of maintaining the health and wellness of every individual attending. During the playoffs, Coronado plans to disinfect the balls for each sport after every play, use hand sanitizer regularly, and make sure masks are worn by coaches, guests, players on the bench and officials, according to Miller. 

Limited numbers of people will be allowed in the stands and they must abide by the social distancing regulations outlined by the Scottsdale Unified School District policy and the AIA guidelines, according to Nathan Slater, SUSD athletic director. 

Coronado hosted the playoffs for the first time last year for any type of sport and it was “incredible to see everyone come together from all different towns to celebrate,” Miller said.  

Hosting the state playoffs for three different sports is very significant, Slater said, because it allows the school to showcase its facilities and help its partners at the AIA. 

There will be 20 different games played through all three sports in the span of only nine days. 

There is a lot of preparation that goes into hosting the state playoffs. Coronado meets with the maintenance department, AIA staff, law enforcement and security teams. There is also “complete walk-throughs of the facility to make sure everything is prepared,” according to Miller. 

Football playoffs will take place Nov. 20, 21 and 28. There will also be games on Dec. 5 and 12,  with each day of games lasting eight-nine hours. Coronado has a synthetic turf field and it is only three years old which is really helpful for the players since it is still relatively new. 

Fall soccer playoffs will be held at Coronado Nov. 6 and 7, while the volleyball state finals are set for Nov. 13 and 14. 

“There was a secondary gym that was built at the school which makes it easier to have more games with two matches going on at all times,” Miller said.

Miller was actually the one who suggested hosting it again and there were a lot of schools who reached out and asked Coronado to host again because of last year's turnout. 

Last year the competition featured teams from rural communities such as Round Valley from Eager. Many of the smaller communities send a radio crew to cover the game so everyone in their town can listen to the games. All of the games are streamed on the NFHS Network; this year they actually have their cameras mounted on the top of the press box and the gym wall, so it makes filming the games super easy, according to Miller. 

“To host such meaningful big events like this during a pandemic will show just how strong of an athletic department we have at Coronado. It will emphasize our teamwork, collaboration and preparedness for events,” he added. 

“It went outstanding last year when we hosted and a lot of different schools had asked us to host again because of how well it went.” 

Coronado is a great location for the playoffs because of the accessibility for the site being next to a lot of main freeways, Slater said. 

“This year is obviously going to be a little different because of the pandemic and all other factors combined, but we will make sure to take safety precautions to keep all the faculty, students and parents safe during these times,” Miller said.