The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Spring athletes face dilemma after news
If season happens, logistics and injuries among concerns
During a daily novel coronavirus briefing, Gov. Mike DeWine extended closure of K-12 schools through May 1.
High school spring sports in Ohio were dealt a devastating blow on March 30.
During his daily novel coronavirus briefing, Gov. Mike DeWine announced an extended closure of K-12 schools through May 1. DeWine had previously announced an extended spring break of three weeks on March 16.
As of March 30, Lorain County had 78 reported COVID-19 cases and two fatalities. Ohio had 1,933 reported cases across the state.
DeWine’s announcement of an extended school closure means an additional delay to the start of the spring sports season, as the closure includes all extracurricular activities.
In the minutes after DeWine’s announcement, North Ridgeville track coach James Shurtleff received texts from some members of his team asking about how this impacted their season. And while Shurtleff is still pushing his team to practice, he knows changes could be looming.
“When (OHSAA Executive Director) Jerry Snodgrass had his press conference (on March 19), he alluded that any other delay would put spring sports in a tough position,” Shurtleff said. “It just doesn’t seem to work logistically that you could come back, have a week of practice and have some type of abbreviated season and then go to tournaments. It’s hard to imagine how there can be any type of season.”
When Snodgrass first announced the season was getting pushed back two weeks ago, he said that when school resumed there would be a five-day acclimation period before seasons would start again. There’s no word on if that’s still the case if school resumes in May.
Snodgrass has said on multiple occasions that the OHSAA would react accordingly to any decisions made by the Governor’s office. In an appearance on CNN on March 15, DeWine said that Ohio’s schools could stay closed for the remainder of the year.
If school was to resume on May 1, the OHSAA would have to make some drastic changes to fit in as much of the spring sports season as they can.
“Five days from May 1 would basically take everyone into their conference meets,”
Elyria track and field coach Jerry Chizmar said. “I’m kind of concerned that you’d have a lot of kids pushing hard in a short period of time.”
Another possibility is the extension of the spring sports season into the summer. It’s something that, while it would allow for the possibility of an entire season, could prove to be a logistical nightmare.
“Personally, I’d play softball 365 days a year if we could. But that would be on the school systems and on the state,” Amherst softball coach Lacey Reichert said. “Now you’d be running into the summer and travel ball and now you have girls that are maybe forced to pick and choose. But that’s
a bridge we’ll have to cross when and if we get there.”
Amherst baseball coach Matt Rositano said he’d also be in favor of extending the season into the summer months.
“I am for any scenario in which the kids can have a spring sports season, especially the seniors,” he said. “If that means that the season gets extended into June, July, even the beginning of August, I am all for it. I know for sure my seniors ... I’m fairly confident saying that seniors across the state are dying to be able to play their senior year.”
Not only has the season postponement put coaches in a tough spot in terms of planning ahead, but also in
the act of coaching, as they’re not able to meet with their teams. Coaches have had to resort to everything from mass texts to email blasts to stay in touch and try to keep their teams motivated.
“I’ve kept in contact with some of our girls and a lot of them are still doing stuff on their own, like hitting off the tees,” Reichert said. “But nothing is like practicing with your team and the conditioning we do, and the drills we do as a team.”
That sentiment isn’t limited to softball.
“It’s hard for these athletes to stay in shape when they think the season is going to be canceled,” Firelands track and field coach Steve Silas said.
“If that means that the season gets extended into June, July, even the beginning of August, I am all for it.” — Amherst baseball coach Matt Rositano