Monica Deeb has been the Salisbury High School Athletic Director for more than two decades. This season marked her 22nd year in charge of the Falcons’ athletics.

2020 has surely been the most difficult year of her tenure.

Despite all of the obstacles surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March, Deeb and the entire Salisbury community had done well with their precautions and plan for the fall sports season. It resulted in a season for the Falcons that went uninterrupted by COVID-19, a testament to everyone involved.

“This is my 22nd school year, and it’s been like no other,” Deeb said. “You think you would’ve seen everything over the first 21 years. I’m just really happy for the kids. I was happy they were able to have a fall season. They deserve so much credit.”

While the actions of everyone involved played a key role in the successful season, Deeb also acknowledged having some fortune on the Falcons’ side.

“I think everything went amazing,” Deeb said. “It takes all that, and then it takes some nice weather which we got a lot of that. And we had a lot of luck. You have to have some fortune. You can do everything right, and you still might not be successful. You can apply that to anything.”

Those who deserve the most credit are the student-athletes and coaches. The players were extremely responsible throughout the entire fall, wearing masks at all times, staying socially distanced and avoiding unnecessary in-game celebrations.

“We’re all virtual, so the kids were really excited to see their classmates at the events, at practices, at games, at team meetings and such,” Deeb said. “They were very diligent about wearing their masks, and they were policed by everybody. Nothing was perfect, but everybody did the best that they could do.”

But there’s plenty of praise to go around. The athletic training staff from St. Luke’s, including athletic trainers Julie Gregory, Julie Grisi and Zane Sebesta, as well as the strength performance coach for the fall, Isaac Moodie, were instrumental to the success. In addition to their regular duties in a normal season, they also made sure that the athletes and coaches were felling well.

The athletes needed to fill out daily COVID-19 questionnaires before games and practices. Temperatures were also taken on a daily basis to take precaution and stop any possible spread of the virus.

Fan limitations were also put in place to mitigate any potential spread. Only parents of players, cheerleaders or marching band members were permitted at football home games. For the other team sports (boys soccer, girls soccer and field hockey) the crowd limitation was set at 250, but those games never came close to being at full capacity.

“If you didn’t feel well we didn’t want you to be there, and everybody was really good about that,” Deeb said. “It really helps to be outside. Look at what the numbers are doing now since people have gone inside.

“We weren’t really able to have any students at our athletic events. But you had to make those sacrifices to have a season, and everybody understood and bought in.”

Deeb also acknowledged the support from the Salisbury administration, school board and everyone involved with the school district. The backing of those individuals gave the athletes the opportunity to have a season when things were still unknown in the offseason.

Even the maintenance personnel who helped clean and disinfect the facilities regularly were instrumental and sometimes went unnoticed, as was the custodial staff who got the Falcons’ field ready for each game. Athletic Administrative Assistant Cherie Pennella also deserves much credit. As Deeb mentioned, it was a “colossal effort” from everyone involved.

“It was the decisions that everyone made away from our facilities - our school district building - that allowed us to have these programs and for the duration of their seasons,” Deeb said. “Everybody had to buy in. Everybody had to make good decisions.”