By Kristen Lee
Zoom, masks, and social distancing have become the new norm. COVID-19 has had a global effect on people’s daily lives in many ways. Schools in New York state have been closed since March 14 and will be closed for the remainder of the school year.
This shutdown was put into place right at the beginning of the spring sports season, thus taking away many students’ last high school playing season. According to the Help Guide, playing a sport can reduce anxiety and stress and also improve sleep habits. Granted, everyone is going through stress at this time, but having a sport taken away from a student could possibly increase anxiety. Not to mention, student athletes already had higher stress levels from having higher expectations being put upon them to not only perform well in their sport, but also continue to do well in school.
Sydney Fitzsimmons and Ms. Calleri both stated that senior athletes are missing out on their final season, one which they can never get back. Senior night is one of the ways that senior athletes get recognition for the work they put in on and off the field, when all the extra pressure feels like it paid off in the end. Fitzsimmons also stated that one of her friends once said to her that all the work they put into their sport just feels wasted now. When asked if the administration would do anything to honor the seniors Mrs. DeSantis said, “Mr. Suchyna has a few tricks up his sleeve… no spoiler alerts here.” I was not given a specific time of when this might occur, but we can assume that something will be done for these athletes.
Players are missing many opportunities such as recruiting and experience for either another year in club or to move onto collegiate play.
School sports have not been the only thing affected, many students play their sport outside of school with a club or premier team. Regulation play has either been cancelled or postponed to a later date. Sports are some people’s way of staying in shape and getting exercise, others are playing because they love the sport. Fitzsimmons shared that she misses traveling to tournaments with her teammates and bonding and making memories. She has also learned new ways to stay in shape while her season has been postponed such as running on her own or watching YouTube workout videos. Many athletes are trying to find other ways to stay active. Louise Carlson stated, “My daughter has been trying to run everyday, and we also got a peloton bike for the family to use.” Players are missing many opportunities such as recruiting and experience for either another year in club or to move onto collegiate play.
Obviously this is just one group of people affected by COVID-19 and quarantine, but we can not forget about everyone around the world. People are experiencing different things during these difficult times, but we can’t invalidate anyone’s feelings just because it seems small or insignificant compared to everyone globally, everyone matters. Stay safe!
