Up in the air
WHAT’S THE PLAN FOR SCHOOL SPORTS THIS SPRING?
2020 brought many disappointing moments to athletes all around the country, including Fairfield County students, many of whom had their spring season cut short last year due to the start of the pandemic. Now, high school and college coaches are hoping school sports will return to some sort of normalcy for their athletes, however, even if it is on a modified basis.
Typically, the spring sports season begins around mid-March; this year, it is tentatively scheduled to start on April 12, following a delayed return to winter sports, which will have started on January 19, almost two months later than during pre-pandemic seasons, and ending around St. Patrick’s Day. And there’s always the possibility that could be pushed back, further delaying the spring season.
Doug Marchetti, the athletic director for Norwalk High School, doesn’t want to have any disruptions to the upcoming spring season. “You typically plan, plan, plan for seasons ahead of time, and COVID has really changed that for us,” he says.
Marchetti thinks there may be some potential for a delay, due to the winter sports not starting until later than usual.
The pandemic has also affected the recruiting of athletes. Traditional scouting for recruits for colleges typically consisted of recruiters following the athletes for about a year, starting in the summer and ending at the end of that sports season. Since the spring season was cut short last year, that meant that the students had to get noticed on their own by contacting the colleges, which posed some challenges. Students had to get on the “radar” to speak to recruiters and discuss the programs at the colleges, the possibility of them playing for the schools, etc.
“With the pandemic, my athletes have had to reach out directly to the recruiters since there haven’t been enough games. They literally have to call them and make introductions,” Marchetti reports. “We want to get back to as normal as possible.”
Jay Egan, athletic director at New Canaan High School, recounts that COVID-19 and its restrictions, set by the department of health, made it challenging for the students to meet with their coaches.
“The focus at the moment is getting practices
and meetings with the coaches for the athletes,” Egan states.
The district also hopes to provide student athletes with strong coaching and the opportunity to return to some semblance of normalcy.
Currently, schools must follow a guideline of four athletes to one coach for grouping during conditioning, and Egan hopes that the number increases to ten athletes per coach over time. “These were the restrictions developed by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) and state department of public health, and we have to follow the restrictions in order to continue with sports,” Egan explains. “Our goal is to keep our schools open and be able to have the kids come and not have teachers and kids get sick.”
Glenn Lungarini, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) and the CIAC, is responsible for governing the body for secondary school athletics and other interscholastic competition in the state of Connecticut.
Activities through the CIAC are education based. For athletes, recruiting occurs before their senior year. In light of the pandemic, recruiting currently has been taking place outside of the schools.
“There is a limitation of scholarships, due to the extra year of eligibility, because last year’s seasons were cut short due to the pandemic,” says Lungarini. “Because there is the extra year of eligibility, that is one less scholarship for incoming freshmen for the college.”
Because of this, it has caused a strain to the athletes, according to Lungarini, who notes that 94% of high school athletes do not go to the next level. “Only 6% of high school athletes continue on to the college level,” Lungarini states.
At the college level for sports, the universities have faced similar challenges as the public schools. Both the winter and spring seasons have been delayed, and most colleges and universities don’t even have a definitive date for the start of their spring seasons.
With most schools not having started up again until middle or late January, many have had to suspend games for the winter season due to COVID-19 cases.
Zach Dayton, Fairfield University deputy director of athletics, hopes student athletes will start their seasons this spring in February or March depending on the sport, unless the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) or the department of public health issues a different set of guidelines. At the moment, the Fairfield University athletic department is working with each conference they are affiliated with to craft schedules, but Dayton hopes each sport will start on time this spring.
“We are working to provide the best possible competitive environment for our student athletes this spring,” says Dayton.
Jake Noviello, a junior attending Fairfield University and who plays baseball (he has been playing ball since age 3 and is a right hand pitcher) for the school’s team, describes last year’s spring season as disappointing. “Out of the 60 games we had scheduled, we were only able to play 11 of them,” he recalls.
Practices this past fall consisted of small groups and athletes wearing masks for each of the practices, particularly when they were in close contact with one another. During weight lifting groups, they socially distanced. The department purchased neck gaiters for each student-athlete, as well.
Noviello recalls a moment from last season: “I remember when we were playing games in Florida and had to fly back early, because the pandemic had just started.”
As approved by the NCAA Division I Council, all student athletes that competed in the spring of 2020 that had their season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic will receive an additional year of eligibility, according to Dayton. “This is not a Fairfield University specific program, but rather a waiver approved by the NCAA that we follow as a member of the association,” he explains.
“COVID has definitely changed things around,” says Noviello. “The Fairfield University athletic department does a great job managing practices and everyone works hard trying to keep things as normal as possible.”