PINEVILLE, Ky. — The school year is in full gear and some students are retaking courses missed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What You Need To Know
- At least 20 Pineville students are taking part in the Supplemental School Year program
- One senior chose to retake courses to play football
- He said the COVID-19 pandemic dissolved his dream to play football his previous senior year
- Pineville High School only played seven games last school year
It's through a new law, signed by Gov. Andy Beshear, that went into effect this school year.
“I'm tired, it's a lot of work. Hot, but it’s worth it,” said David Mayberry, a senior at Pineville High School during football practice.
Mayberry is one of 20 students at Pineville Independent School signed up for the Supplemental Year program.
“You start as a freshman, dreaming of the day you become a senior walking down that field. Being on it, being a senior, dreaming that Senior Night play on the last game, with all your teammates,” Mayberry said.
His dream was robbed by the constant changes from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ve been playing since first grade, I was like 5, 6 maybe and I’ve been playing since then,” Mayberry said.
They played only seven games last year. Mayberry said the uncertainty of last season was rough.
“Each game was, 'Oh we don't know if we're going to get to play it.' So we're practicing out here thinking ‘Yeah we're gonna play’, and then Thursday runs around, ‘Oh they canceled on us’. It was just not a fun time during that,” Mayberry said.
Earlier this year, the lineman faced a tough decision. He had to choose between a college offer or coming back for another high school season.
“I had a college offer and I was going to play at the University of Campbellsville,” Mayberry said. “Go play football, get an education. My coach sat me down, we talked. We talked for a good while about a couple of weeks about how it would benefit me coming back."
He ended up coming back another year and repeating his senior year.
“This supplemental year was a good chance for me to finally do it,” Mayberry said. “A lot of other kids do and so now I'm playing for 13th-year football in a row, and I still have four more years of college, hopefully, depending on how I play this year.”
The thirteenth year of football for a student who grew up dreaming to play his senior year and with plans to finish the season.
“We’re a small town here, everybody believes in us so we gotta keep working, prove this town prove to everybody that Pineville’s now a football school and will be for a long time,” Mayberry said.