How the HF Students Feel About Sports Delays

If this school year was anything like other years, fall sports would’ve already started and games would be approaching in the following weeks. However, COVID-19 had other plans. With social distancing in place, fall sports have been unable to begin at their regular time. 

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s (NYSPHSAA) coronavirus task force made the decision to delay the start of the season until September 21. The school district sent out emails about the delay on August 14, 2020. This delay is disappointing to HF athletes.

Kayla Hibbert, a junior has been playing on the JV tennis team since her freshman year, as well as in middle school. She hopes there will be safety guidelines in place, “I hope the school makes sure there’s a good amount of social distancing and wearing a mask becomes mandatory, on and off the court.” Hibbert thinks it would be best to play singles in tennis this year instead of doubles for social distancing purposes. “This is going to be a very weird year,” she says. 

Miracle Powell, also a junior has been playing volleyball since middle school. “[Volleyball] was the only thing I was looking forward to when going back to school.” She has no doubts that the season will be different than previous years. She believes masks and social distancing will be in place but she doesn’t mind as long as she gets to play alongside her team this year. 

Some sports are being delayed even further! Football, volleyball, and competitive cheer seasons have been moved to March 1st, 2021. These high risk sports have been postponed however, low risk sports are allowed to begin practices on September 21, 2020. Low/moderate risk sports such as, girls tennis, cross country, girls swimming, boys and girls soccer, and field hockey will be able to have games

Because of these sports being moved, spring sports will be moved to April 19, 2021. They were originally supposed to start on March 15. Julie Bergman, NYSPHSAA President says, “I, along with my fellow officers, believe the participation experiences for football, volleyball and competitive cheer athletes will be more beneficial in the spring than in the fall.” 

In Hartford, Connecticut, over a thousand high school football players, parents, and coaches met at the State Capitol building on Wednesday, September 9, 2020 in protest of the sports cancelations. Will the HF community follow suit?