High school athletes waiting on pins and needles
Decision expected within weeks on whether sports season will be a go
Just a few months ago, his Bernie Custis Secondary School team was in the midst of enjoying its first senior boys basketball championship. Coronavirus has stolen a lot of things in the meantime but not the feeling of winning. So, he’s eager to get back at working on a defence of the title so he and his players can experience it again.
But even the most positive-thinking guy is having a hard time imagining school sports starting up normally in September to give him that chance.
“I’m a very optimistic person,” says head coach Lincoln Cole. “But, in terms of what’s going on right now, it’s hard to be that way.”
No decisions have yet been made about the fate of either local school board’s fall sports season. While they’re working on their own plans, the ultimate call will come from the Ministry of Education. The public board says it expects an answer within a couple weeks. The Catholic board says something will be coming by next month.
But, with U Sports and Ontario University Athletics — the governing bodies of national and provincial university sports — cancelling their fall seasons this week, pretty much everyone in the coaching ranks sounds very much like they’re gritting their teeth and waiting for their turn to hear bad news.
“I’m very hopeful (a season is) going to happen, but realistic that it probably won’t,” says Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School junior boys football coach Anthony Macaluso.
“I can’t see them playing,” says Westdale senior girls basketball coach, Lexi Spadafora.
“I will always look for that silver lining,” adds St. Thomas More track coach Michele Vesprini. “But ...”
To be fair, there are differences between high school and university that might offer tiny glimmers of hope. At university, players are living together in proximity on or off campus. That doesn’t happen in high school. Plus, high school games are generally local and require less travel time, meaning teams wouldn’t need to be crammed on buses all together.
It’s not much, but it’s what they’ve got.
There’s also the possibility that some sports could be played. Cross country, tennis, golf — and even baseball to some degree — don’t require participants to be close enough to breathe on each other. Perhaps they could get the green light even if team sports weren’t allowed.
But those are just hopes that have been thrown out there. Perhaps they could work, perhaps even those ideas could be seen as too risky.
There are a few things that are already clear. Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board chair Pat Daly says, if schools are closed in the fall and learning is being done online, there definitely will not be sports. Unfortunately, schools being open doesn’t guarantee there will be. “Any guidelines will be contingent upon direction from public health,” he says.
It’s a bit of a nightmare for those who want to play, especially for those in their final year of school and for those who are hoping to play at the next level.
No games mean recruiting becomes a monumental challenge. Someone who was OK in Grade 11 but might have blossomed in Grade 12 now faces the possibility of not being scouted. Furthermore, making a university team after not playing for a full season will be that much more difficult.
And, with universities not taking a year of eligibility away from athletes, some players who would have graduated will return offering fewer spots for incoming freshmen.
“I know if I was in that position it would be pretty devastating,” says Spadafora.
Those seeking that last little sliver of hope to which they can cling might find it by talking to Saltfleet senior boys basketball coach Dave Ormerod. The rumour mill is churning hard these days but he says he’s caught wind of some plans that might salvage some kind of season.
“I heard they may want to start things in January,” he says.
In other words, start the basketball — and other sports — seasons later. Compact the schedules a bit but get them in so athletes at least get to have part of a season.
Hey, it would be something. And, even if it wasn’t a perfect solution, it would be a whole heck of a lot better than nothing.