COVID-19, better known as “Coronavirus”, originated in Wuhan, China, and while the disease was first suspected to be pneumonia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) soon discovered it was a new type of disease, which currently has no effective treatment. . The three months that proceeded transformed the virus from a local sickness to a worldwide threat. With it’s extreme infectivity, it has reached countries like Japan, Italy and now the United States.
As we look upon this global pandemic, there are clearly greater concerns, but one thing that may go overlooked by many is high school sports. The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) made its latest statement March 24.
“While we remain hopeful that we will be able to resume competition, particularly for our senior student-athletes, we also recognize the need to protect the health and safety of our students, coaches and the communities we serve,” Que Tucker, commissioner of the NCHSAA said.
Seasons have either been indefinitely cancelled or postponed on a national scale, leaving spring sports’ seasons over before they had hardly started. Rivalry games never happened, senior nights were missed and championship dreams were crushed because of this cancellation and it has taken a toll on all student-athletes.
“It’s really disappointing for us because everyone was hoping for so much with this season. We were shooting for winning conference and getting to states and now that can’t happen,”junior soccer player Brynn Hutchinson said.
“ The morale I think isn’t too bad because the team is still in contact with each other and trying to get in practices, but mostly I think everyone’s upset about the season ending before it really even [began],” Hutchinson said.
While it’s affecting all high school athletes in our state, it has had a more devastating effect on seniors, whose seasons ended before they could say a solemn goodbye entirely.
“These past few years track has been a huge passion of mine; I was always driving towards success. I had huge goals I wanted to accomplish this senior season, but since it has been cancelled due to Corona, those goals won’t be met. I plan to further my athletic career in the sport though,” senior track runner Jeffrey Walker said.
What began as a three week delay continued to grow with a number of extensions. At this point, athletes are certain that their season is cancelled.
“It is really upsetting having our season ended like that; I feel like I missed out on a lot of memories with my teammates and coaches that I otherwise would’ve gotten if we had played longer into the season,” senior lacrosse player Will Knight said.