Fighting to save their season
Northeastern Conference students protest moving fall sports to spring
DANVERS — About 150 student-athletes from multiple schools within the Northeastern Conference gathered Friday afternoon at Danvers Town Hall to protest the conference’s voted decision to push all fall sports into the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s designated Fall 2 season, which starts in late February.
Danvers, Peabody, Masconomet, Swampscott and Beverly all were represented by mask-wearing fall athletes, most of whom donned their respective schools’ athletic apparel and colors while holding large and small signs. The crowd went on the move to a busy intersection conjoined with Route 62, chanting “Let us play,” and “Save our season,” where the protest lasted for about an hour.
Many passing cars gave raucously supportive beeps, while town police ensured safety and gave support. One officer even gave a few fist bumps, and a passing firetruck let off some supportive honks as well.
“The news was devastating when we found out we couldn’t play but everyone that plays a fall sport wants to play and we have everyone out here, all the towns in the NEC,” said Danvers senior soccer player Dillon Driscoll. “It’s pretty cool, pretty special that we can do that. Hopefully we can get a change. … If anything, it got people talking and shows everyone is upset.”
The public call for change came days after the athletic directors and principals for the NEC’s 12 schools voted to nix sports from starting on the designated Fall 1 Sep. 18 date. The towns and cities of Salem, Saugus, Winthrop and Lynn were among the 10 commonwealth communities deemed “red” areas with eight or more active COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents at the time of the vote, which was a cause for concern.
Many protesters held signs similarly reading the message, “We’re green, you’re mean,” to signal how it isn’t fair to punish towns and cities without many cases from playing because of those towns at high risk to spread. Others felt the NEC disregards the work of the MIAA COVID-19 Task Force and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to draw up a plan that allows low-risk and moderate-risk sports — such as soccer, field hockey, golf, volleyball and cross country — to play this fall, albeit without an MIAA tournament.
The latter complaint includes Peabody rising sophomore cross country and track star Savanna Vargas and her mother, Jennifer Vargas, as the student-athlete already had national track championships in August pushed to February following intense, year-round training. Now, cross country is postponed, too.
“I’m upset, disappointed, mad,” Savanna Vargas said. “I worked hard every single day for the past, more than seven months. I eat, sleep and breathe (track), and a whole lot of other people eat, sleep and breathe other sports, too.”
Added her mother: “I think as a parent, even if they let us sign waivers … just something to let them play. I know people that are putting their kids in private schools just to let them play sports. With precautions, I think it can be safely done. There’s got to be a happy medium somewhere.”
The protest was originally planned to take place at Danvers High School, but once wind of the event caught interest from neighboring schools, a large expected crowd decided to meet at the town hall instead. Masconomet student-athletes gathered before at their high school, too.
Among those Chieftains to protest were field hockey seniors Andrea Walker, Nina Morris and Mia Koutoulas, who expressed love for their team, fear they won’t get to play at all with the push back to Fall 2, and optimism in the message it sends that so many student-athletes from multiple towns banded together to try and fight the NEC’s decision. After all, Walker and Morris don’t play other sports, so this might be it.
“(The protest) shows the true passion and the need for sports,” said Koutoulas.
“We really just want to play. It’s our last year, our last opportunity to play with this team, this amazing team,” added Morris. “We’re really bringing the community together, and it’s just incredible all the young people trying to protest this. … Anything is better than nothing at this point.”
An NEC statement, per The Salem News, provided at the time of the vote, said: “We recognize that connections for all our students are critical. Out of season practice sessions are a new initiative that the MIAA offers to all their member schools this year. There will be opportunities for connections in the fall that are sport-specific.”
Since then, sports modifications have been approved by the task force and the MIAA Board of Directors for more specific playing rules. The NEC’s school superintendents had yet to meet over this issue, so maybe those modifications — along with the protest — swing their vote.