News that has long been feared, but anticipated, moved closer toward becoming a reality on Tuesday.
Gov. Charlie Baker announced during his afternoon press conference that schools in the Commonwealth would stay closed through the end of the school year. While the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) did not release an official statement on the status of its high school sports season, all signs pointed toward the organization canceling due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“As the father of three grown children it stings for me, too, because I remember how precious this time is,” offered Baker in his afternoon press briefing. “To all the seniors, I would say, you should keep your heads up. I know that we all miss sports, gatherings, meetings, friends, all the stuff that has always been a presumed part of our daily lives. But we all need to remember why we’re doing all of this. Let’s all just keep up the fight against the virus.”
The MIAA has been holding out hope that spring sports would have a chance to be played in some capacity. The organization has held several meetings in recent weeks, formulating contingency plans for a shortened version of a season.
The MIAA said all along that it would follow Gov. Baker’s school guidelines. The expectation was that schools would need to return to session by the most recent May 4 date put forth by the Governor’s office in order to play a season. When that plan changed on Tuesday, spring sports’ status was put in further peril.
“Difficult news received from Governor Baker today,” the MIAA said in a statement on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. “A formal (MIAA Board of Directors) statement regarding the status of 2020 spring sports will be provided by week’s end.”
The MIAA’s BOD is expected to meet on Friday via teleconference, where it will make a final decision on the status of spring sports.
Local athletic directors reacted to the news of schools being closed on Tuesday, as Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region are preparing for the potential cancellation of the spring season.
“It’s sad,” began Greenfield High School Athletic Director Mike Kuchieski. “It’s an unfortunate situation and these are tough times. I feel bad for our seniors, for all of our student-athletes this spring. I feel bad for the kids who were at lunch on March 13 and aren’t going to see the rest of their friends in school again until August or September.”
Massachusetts would become the third state in New England to cancel its spring sports season, joining Maine and New Hampshire.
“I give the MIAA credit for not canceling back in March or the first week of April,” Turners Falls High School AD Adam Graves offered. “They held on as long as they could. You could see the writing on the wall. Other states were doing it. In the end, (closing schools) was the right decision in order to keep people safe.”
Athol High School AD Dan Bevis was cautiously optimistic that spring sports might be able to return, but acknowledged on Tuesday that the Governor’s office made the right call in keeping schools closed into the summer.
“It’s a tough day for everybody across the state,” Bevis began. “Ultimately we were hopeful that there would be a season, that we would be able to go back to school, go back to work, return to the normalcy of life. I think the decision (Tuesday) changes all that. But in my opinion, I think it’s best for the safety of everybody. We kind of have to go with what the experts are saying.”
The cancellation would bring about an abrupt end to the high school careers for senior student-athletes, something local ADs said would be particularly devastating.
“Those are the things that you remember your senior year,” Kuchieski said. “Class trip, Class Night, all that stuff. I worry about the kids that might’ve been getting recruited and wanted to play a sport in college. They won’t have their senior year to show themselves off and that’s a tough thing. If they took away our spring when I was in high school, I wouldn’t have had a chance to play for a state championship in baseball.”
Graves said perhaps the most challenging aspect of the potential cancellation comes from the fact that teams can’t even get together in person to discuss the decision.
“The hardest part is you can’t have these meetings face-to-face,” he said. “You can’t call all the kids down to the cafeteria for a major announcement, talk to them in person and listen to their concerns. It’s not going to be like that this time, unfortunately. You hate to not be able to give them that personal connection.”
And while many seniors likely won’t get a chance to play one final season of high school sports, Bevis said that the impact is more far-reaching than just a two or three month stint.
“Really, they’ve had a 12 or 13-year educational career and this is the culmination of that,” the Athol AD explained. “For all that to change for this group of kids in a matter of a month, it’s very unfortunate. I feel for all the kids. That these kids likely won’t get a chance to compete and represent their school and community one last time… it’s heartbreaking.”
Check back in Thursday’s edition of the Recorder for reaction from student-athletes and coaches about the status of the spring high school sports season.