Spring sports’ last hope fades
Entire season canceled as Gov. Cuomo closes schools for rest of scholastic year
April proved to be a month that showered high school spring athletes with more and more disappointment.
The first day of May offered the final deluge as Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that schools throughout the state will remain closed for the remainder of the scholastic year as the country deals with the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo’s proclamation ended any hope of spring athletics in 2020.
Monday, the sectional and state spring championships were canceled. There remained a sliver of hope that at least a few games and track meets could be contested. Friday’s announcement erased those plans. New York State Public High School Athletic Association executive director Robert Zayas previously stated there would be no athletics without a return to the classroom.
Friday evening, Zayas sat in his daughter’s room taking a break from painting and said, “I am trying to figure if this is the most difficult day as executive director or the most difficult day as a parent of a studentathlete? I can’t figure out which is worse. The whole past two months have been so disappointing and difficult. I just feel for all those kids, especially the seniors.”
Ed Dopp, who coached baseball at Shaker and served as the state
baseball chairman, is currently the Section II executive director. He shares Zayas’ exasperation.
“I don’t even know what to say anymore. Nobody could have imagined this in their wildest dreams,” Dopp said. “You hope — you try to hold out hope — and think you have a chance. I am not surprised. Deep down inside, you know it is the right thing. It hurts. It still hurts.”
“We were just hoping to get back as soon as possible, at least get in a couple of games,” said Bethlehem senior lacrosse star Liam Ferris, the 2019 Times Union Athlete of the Year who will next play at Syracuse University. “Not surprising, at this point, that we will not play . ... No one ever thought this would happen a month or two months ago. We were excited to play the season. Everything we worked for disappeared.”
Spring practices began March 9, but were suspended March 13. Any hopes of completing the final stages of winter championships in basketball, bowling and hockey ended March 23.
Despite Monday’s decision to not conduct spring sectional or state championships, Dopp remained optimistic some games before graduation could be contested. It was not to be.
“The last six to eight weeks have been physically and emotionally draining,” Dopp said. “I really feel for all the spring athletes. At the same time as the person who wears the hat I do, we still have a ton of unanswered questions and work to do to prepare for if, and when, we’re able to play fall sports.”
“I would think it would be naive of us to not start looking at the fall since the NCAA and NFL are already doing that,” Zayas said.