LH seniors struggle through mandated school break
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a continuing series of articles on how Garland County senior softball players are reacting to the mandatory “dead period” implemented by the Arkansas Activities Association.
Lake Hamilton seniors Courtney Tuckerman and Kannyn Wasson have worked tirelessly for the last four years to get to where they are.
The Lady Wolves were just four games into the season when the Arkansas Activities Association suspended all interscholastic practice and competition due to the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension, originally to be reconsidered on March 30, has now been extended until April 17.
“It’s kind of disappointing and frustrating,” said Wasson. “We’ve worked for four years to get to this point. Well, I have anyway. I understand we have to be equal and it may not be affecting our school personally, but it’s kind of hard.”
“It’s very hard to deal with,” Tuckerman agreed. “We did one away game and then one tournament. We probably played about four games during the tournament, and never would I have thought, ‘This is gonna be my last game.’”
Tuckerman said that the Lady Wolves were about to go play a game on March 12 when they found out it was canceled.
“We were about to go to a game, and then I got a text message saying the game was canceled,” she said. “I was going to my car to go down to the field and get on the bus. It had me thinking that it was just because rain was about to come in and they didn’t want to get there and then have to
cancel it, and then I hear about how all these schools are shutting down because of the coronavirus, so that’s the reason we weren’t able to play.”
The entire situation has caused Wasson to change her plans for next season.
“Actually, I wasn’t before but I have now rearranged my plans, and I’m planning to attend National Park to play ball because of all of this,” she said. “I’ve contacted the coach, and they’ve been meeting players. That’s what I’m waiting on. That’s sort of where I’m leaning towards now.”
Tuckerman said that this could create issues for her future as well.
“Well, one of the biggest reasons I was looking forward to my senior season is because I know, especially with all the varsity time, it would help me a lot achieve higher skills,” Tuckerman said. “And so I think it definitely lowers the chances of me playing good if I were to play in college.”
Both senior Lady Wolves are continuing to train during the hiatus.
“At Lake Hamilton, we usually start off with T’s and we’ll have T-work so I’ll try to go out and hit, throw with my dad,” Wasson said. “If I can get with a teammate, we’ll try to throw. It’s hard, but you can’t do a lot of stuff and real game stuff which you need when you have games. I’m trying to stay loose, stay fit — ready whenever they call us back and let us know when we can do it again.”
Tuckerman said that she has been training with her brother while out of school.
“I think that if I were to use a lot more time to work out at home and stuff that I could build my muscles up more,” she said. “My little brother plays baseball as well. … So he’s always like ‘Let’s go to the batting cages,’ so we will head to Little Rock every now and then and go to D-BAT’s. I think we went last week, and they hadn’t had a single person, all day. … I know it’s taking a toll on them, too, because no one’s wanting to come out. At least I’ll still be able to go to the batting cages and get reps in there.”
Tuckerman recognizes how much the pandemic has disrupted many others as well.
“I feel so bad for everyone else, too, because I know it’s not only me that’s going through this,” she explained. “You have people that are playing their last year ever in college ball. There’s people that are wanting to graduate college after spending all that time and all that money in college. … I definitely feel for everyone else that is going through this as well because I know I’m not the only one.”
With many young players on the roster, the Lady Wolves were beginning to establish a foundation when the AAA reached their decision.
“Had we been a little bit further into the season, it may have been an advantage because sometimes you do get burnt out playing most of the games,” Wasson said. “We only got four games in so it kind of just hit us right before we could even dip our toes in. It’s not really gonna be too good for us.”