AND THEY’RE OFF
New York state gives February 1 start date for high school sports
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY » It’s been a long time coming but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York State announced late Friday afternoon that high risk high school sports such as basketball, hockey, and wrestling will be granted a February 1 start date for their 2021 season.
“When they told me I told my wife I felt like crying. I can only imagine how my guys are,” said Averill Park Head Coach Dave Pugliese. “I sent them a text. You know how kids are they are they are usually busy and will text you back a little later. I think I had every kid in the program text me back in about 35 seconds. They were ecstatic.”
The announcement comes with the stipulation that local health authorities should consider factors such as if a more transmissible form of COVID-19 has been identified in the area, the local rates of COVID-19 within the area, and the local ability to monitor and enforce compliance.
“We’re excited. I know
there’s still a few hoops to jump through, but we’re super excited,” said Shenendehowa Boy’s Basketball Head Coach Tony Dzikas.
Dzikas continued to discuss his seniors and what it means for them to get some semblance of a season in.
“They just want to be able to play their senior year. I don’t know what it’ll look like, if there’ll be a league play, but I don’t think we really care. We just want these kids to be able to experience their senior year and wear a Shen uniform one last time. I think that’s really important.”
Saratoga Wrestling coach Jake Zanetti commented on the excitement that comes with the announcement but continues to look for the safest route.
“My initial reaction was that I’m psyched because we’re going to be able to get the kids back in, doing what they love,” said Zanetti. “Then you have to think about how we’re going to do this safely. As long as we can do that and check all those boxes, then I think it can be a great thing for everybody.”
Though teams will be allowed to compete against one another, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association and Section II have already cancelled state and sectional championship tournaments. Teams will be competing for the love of the game.
“I’d love to play for sectionals and state titles, but if they told me I was playing Columbia 20 times, I would do that. i would do anything at this point,” said Averill Park’s Pugliese.
“It’s exciting, but there’s still a lot of questions that have to be answered, so I would say that I’m cautiously optimistic,” added Shenendehowa Girl’s Basketball Head Coach Joe Murphy. “Hopefully somehow the section can somehow work out a schedule, but there’s a lot of questions to answer in a short period of time.”
The memo with all the info on the announcement can be found at governor. ny.gov.
“My last hour has been driving up to Glens Falls for a nordic ski race and my phone has been blowing up for the better part of that hour, so I haven’t had a chance to read the memo from the state yet,” said Saratoga Athletic Director Nick McPartland. “People are naturally excited, it’s probably the best news we’ve had in awhile, but there’s obviously a lot of questions and things that we need to get ready in a short amount of time.”
“I’m definitely super excited, all the boys are already talking about it,” said Saratoga Hockey Captain Will Detora. “We’re trying not to get too excited in case something does happen, but we have remained positive the whole time so it is a nice boost of hope.”
“Will Detora, one of our senior hockey players and a captain of the hockey team; he has my contact information and he texted me saying, ‘hey, this is some really big news,’ with a few exclamation points,” said McPartland. “He’s really excited and that’s a testament to how invested these kids are in this and how they’ve been dying to hear some sort of information about getting sports up-and-running again.”