It’s been quite the semester of sports here at Piedmont College, as we have had over 20 sports competing during the spring semester. All of this comes after Piedmont, and every other USA South school, did not compete in the fall due to the COVID-19 policies put in place by the conference. While all student-athletes were disappointed to not be competing during their regular-season times, everyone is thankful for a spring full of competition, no matter how packed.

The packed schedule has been one of the craziest parts of the spring here at Piedmont. Between the constantly changing schedules, due to weather, COVID-19, and other outside factors, it has been a true juggling act for the Piedmont College athletic communications office. The department, headed by Danielle Percival, has done a fantastic job of making sure everything has run smoothly. Percival is assisted by Joseph Garwood, who joined the staff in the summer of 2018, and her newest addition, Troy Weiman. Weiman brings loads of prior experience in the field with him and has been thrown straight into action during this busy semester.

“It’s been challenging in a lot of different ways. We joked in the office, ‘How long does it feel like you’ve worked here?’ they asked me,” stated Weiman. “We’ve determined it’s either been three years or two months and it doesn’t feel like there’s an in between.”

The contrast between the two semesters that Weiman has been at the school is drastic. The fall semester at Piedmont consisted of no outside or live competition. Teams were limited in the times they could practice and the COVID-19 regulations were very strict.

“The fall was a lot of sitting around, some days just not doing anything and trying to find a way to put content on the socials when there are no sports,” said Weiman. “[We were] just trying to find ways to stay busy and try to get prepped any way we could for what we knew was going to be a busy spring.”

It has been a busy spring indeed, with plenty of mid-week games to go around, as well as packed weekends at the Walker Athletic Complex and inside Cave Arena. Some days in February and March, Piedmont saw as many as six home contests in a single day. Despite the challenge of playing all sports in the spring, Weiman feels it’s gone well.

“Spring is here, and it’s been okay because it’s better than doing nothing,” stated Weiman. “But, a lot of times, you’re like ‘man, this is a lot’ and it’s a good reminder of why we don’t try to pack this all into one semester.”

Piedmont College is fortunate to have such a great sports information office that has made this difficult semester a little bit easier for its’ student-athletes. Piedmont is scheduled to see home sports action Thursday, April 4, when the softball team takes on Brevard College in a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.piedmontlions.com.