The crowd goes wild! You’ve just scored the winning touchdown of the season. Your hours of work and dedication to football flash through your mind and you become so thankful for every mile you ran to train, for every push-up you did to grow, and for every drill you did at 5am to prepare you for your big season. This is what success feels like. Your hard work was worth it all along! 

This is what many have envisioned for the season, but may get something completely different out of it. The world, obviously, isn’t the same world as it was last year. It’s constantly changing for the better and for the worse, and you can choose how you decide to view it. Unfortunately, there’s a possibility that fall sports may be canceled this season. For many, this is hard to hear. Not being able to do the thing you love sucks, but there are still positive ways to view the situation. 

“I guess if all of a sudden there’s a spike in Covid related illnesses, the AIA could cancel the season. Hopefully all the athletes across the state realize this and are taking proper precautions like masks and social distancing when possible,” stated our own Mr. Korman, who is one of the coaches for the girls badminton team.

Although there is a possibility of fall sports being canceled, there is also so much more behind the season than the sport itself. For coaches, it means they must do everything they can to prepare their team. They are limited to the amount of work they can do to train and prepare for the season. They need their athletes to put in the work themselves, and they do.

Think about how many hours of hard work a player puts into training, preparing, and practicing for their sport. The hours of dedication is teaching the athletes to become hard workers and it is developing skills they will need in the future. They can use their training to build up their strength, and if the fall sports are canceled, they can use it as motivation to continue their hard work and get even better. 

“If the season is canceled that gives me more motivation, to push myself further than others and to better myself. And I will play other sports like wrestling so I could stay ahead of the crowd,” said Seth Finlay, a football player at Mountain Ridge. 

The coaches can only motivate the players so much to get ready for the season. They can’t make them do anything. When the members of the team decide to take responsibility for themselves, they can get better on their own. Coaches encourage players to stay active through running, hiking, working out or whatever they enjoy to do. 

The thrill of the game is what keeps players going. This, however, is just a small part of the reward that comes from playing sports. The connections made with teammates are so important to the players and coaches. They learn together, train together, and get better together. There is so much work put into each season that sometimes isn’t recognized by the crowd. 

Athletes understand that most of the time, you can’t perfect a new skill without training for it. You can’t run a mile in 6 minutes if you haven’t spent the last few months working at it to get faster every time. You can’t simply walk onto the field with no game plan from the quarterback because the whole team will be doing something completely different, and you will fail. It takes hours of hard work to become the best you can possibly be. 

“For the season, I put in time in and out of the weight room, over summer it was off and on when we were able to go to the school to work out so I found any way I could do so,” stated Finlay.

Although the season could be canceled, Finaly has high hopes and is keeping a positive attitude for next year. This optimism is very important to have. It allows us to see things in a new light, and see that our unfortunate situation can be used for good. Don’t look at this school year as something negative. Only negativity will come out of it. Instead, look for things you can do to grow and become a better version of yourself. 

“It’s obvious to coach Rosinbum and me that the girls really need something like sports to stay motivated and happy,” shared Mr. Korman.

Student athletes can stay motivated to keep working hard for next year by thinking about who they’re doing it for. Whether it’s for themselves to grow as an athlete or for their team, seeing who you’re working for can often determine how hard you’re willing to work. If you aren’t willing to work hard then you don’t deserve to be there. 

It’s important to acknowledge the dedication the players and coaches have for the season. They put in hours of practice and they push themselves even when they want to give up. Covid has a big impact on everything. We can continue to do the things we love in a safe way during this pandemic.