THE SEASON THAT WASN’T: a celebration of the kids who had to give up the sports and activities they love due to the COVID crisis. These kids have my heart – as a sports mom, I know how much practices and games – and most importantly, their friends – mean to them.
Hear from them, in their own words, how missing this season has affected them.
The cancellation of my season is not ideal. However, it is a test of the strength and dedication of athletes nationwide. The average athlete surrenders to the depressive and impeding state of a pandemic, but champions will capitalize on a perfect opportunity to train, improve, and shine through this present darkness.
We are really sad about never getting to play any games and only having a few practices. Games are my favorite part of the season because we love competition and working together to dominate the field. We are very sad that we can’t attend the Steel City Tournament. You get to play lots of lacrosse games in one day and eat lots of snacks and food at the Kings Tents.
As a senior, the cancellation of tennis season means I don’t get to see years of work through to the end. I also don’t get to have any closure, whether it was with the sport, coaches, or friends.
I feel lost. Like a piece of me is missing. I was playing volleyball 3-5 days per week and it all ended. We missed Nationals in Chicago and I was excited to go. This was my first year playing at Arsenal and I’m sad that it ended so soon.
Right now in these hard times of the Coronavirus my sport has been cancelled. I have to keep up my athleticism because I can’t afford to lose skills that I already had before also I have to make sure I am stretching on a regular basis so I don’t lose any of my flexibility. Another thing that the coronavirus has gotten in the way of are my dance friendships. I am used to seeing these people everyday and talking with them and pretty much everything that goes on in their lives. I miss competitions, feeling the rush as you are walking out on the stage, or the confidence that you just nailed your routine. Not being able to feel all the feels is a hard thing to think about. I just cannot wait for the day that I get to go back to my sport, my passion dancing.
Not being able to play sports is very frustrating and I miss all my teammates. I am very bored without sports!
We start training in January for baseball and right when we were ready to start it all was gone. Baseball is my favorite sport so it makes me sad we didn’t get a season.
Connor: I’m sad that the season is cancelled because I doesn’t get to play team tennis for the Middle School and a chance to play 1st court singles.
Mom: I’m disappointed as well. This would have been a great chance to coach my son in the sport I love.
I had been looking forward to the lacrosse season for months. I was looking to make some friends this season, since my family just moved here from IL. Also I was looking forward to playing lacrosse this season for the 1st time.
I’ve gone from being busy with choir rehearsals twice a week and concerts to having nothing and being bored. We can’t really sing together right now because zoom just isn’t the same and doesn’t work to sing in a group. And we had no spring concerts so we couldn’t show off all our hard work. I miss getting together with all my choir friends and it just isn’t the same doing it on zoom.
Soccer is how I destress and get my mind off of things. So, with the cancellation of my season, it has been much harder to unwind.
It has made me feel kind of upset since I enjoy jumping with all of my teammates and just having the joy of everyone’s presence in the gym. When I am at practice, it feels like a second home and also the team is like my second family.
Without being at practice with them makes the practices I do by myself kind of feel lonely.
But we do have online practices with partial of our team (we are split up into two groups called Senior and Senior Select Team). I have practices with the seniors which is like freshman in high school and under. I enjoy those practices but I still wish I could actually jump with them in person. Jump rope was something I did 4 times a week and I kind of felt lost when the state said we couldn’t have indoor activities or big gatherings. I can’t wait until we can all be in a gym together again. The team always brings positivity and happiness when we have practices together. I miss that a lot. We didn’t all realize that wouldn’t be able to practice with each other for months. We were just getting ready for Nationals and Worlds (two really big championships at the end of the season – in the summer) before everything got cancelled. I miss being with my team and practicing with them.
I feel like I have to make the best of it. I go outside to play and practice alone. It makes me sad that I do not get to see my teammates at practice and do drills with them.
I’m not really happy about it and I’m not really ok with it but I can still dance around the house.
It is upsetting to miss out on time with a team and coach I love and not be able to see what we could have accomplished.
It would have been my last year playing with my friends that I’ve played with for 5 years. I’m really going to miss them and my coach Russell. Soccer is the only sport I play and I really miss the team spirit we have and the physical aspect of the game.
After practicing for 6 months, my jump rope season ended after one competition. I should have had several regional competitions and the opportunity to compete in AMJRF Nationals Competition over the summer. I miss the sport and the competition and being able to have my hard work at practice pay off at competition. My team practices 4 days a week, so not having practices is a big change in my schedule. I also miss getting to see my coaches and teammates and our interaction as a team.
This year’s sport cancelation has been difficult. I miss walking into practice each day and being able to talk with my close friends on the team. I miss the comradery that sports brought and the relationships I have built within track and field. I was really looking forward to going to track meets for the last time but I am blessed to have been able to experience pole vault for 3 years before. While I will not be able to pole vault at Mason High School again, I am blessed to be able to pole vault in college. I feel terribly for my friends around me who don’t get that opportunity and it has been heartbreaking for them. It is very difficult to look forward to something and then have it be taken away in a very short amount of time. However, every athlete is in the same position which brings the community closer, even 6 feet apart.
It has made me sad that my season was canceled and that I cannot see my teammates. But that will not stop me from practicing and continually trying to improve.
I miss my teacher and my friends. I am really sad about the dance recital being cancelled.
I am really upset and disappointed that the season was canceled.This year was my last year before high school and my year to be a starter for my team. I worked so hard to get to where I am an it was taken away from me.
It has made me sad and depressed because I can’t be on the ice and I don’t have hockey in my day to day life.
It took away my chance to have one last season with the girls that grew my love for lacrosse. Everything I had worked for over the course of 9 years of playing was ripped away from me and there was nothing I could do. It felt like it was all for nothing and it brought me down and left feeling hopeless, yet useless because I couldn’t do anything. It was a reason to get out of bed and put in the work, and now I don’t have that and won’t have it again for a while.
Well, missing cheer makes me sad. It’s my whole life. We were going to summit in Disney World, which is a big deal. Everything was cancelled so we are missing out on something we all worked so hard for. I have cheered for eight years to get here, and it was all taken away.
I feel mad about missing competition with my brother. We probably won’t get to compete our number again. I worked hard and only performed 2 times. I also miss my team mates and coaches. I miss having real rehearsals in person. I was there every single day. I miss the way it was- this is just different.
I haven’t been able to see half of my friends and I’m sad that I didn’t get to do my final Showcase. I miss learning new tricks from the older jumpers.
Canceling gymnastics for 2 months was AWFUL because I was unable to go the gym and work on my skills. I was not able to compete at state or possibly regionals this year. And I missed all of my friends.
The cancellation of the season has really been tough. All of the months working out with the guys, training for hours, and not being able to play sucks. I feel for the seniors. Some of them don’t get to play the sport that they love with their friends anymore.
I have a soft tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. When I was 9, I was told that I would never be able to play sports because of the chronic pain and frequent injuries that EDS comes with. I worked hard and got my condition under control enough so that I could start Water Polo my freshman year. I joined a club, and learned that my club coach also has EDS. The team and the sport showed me that I could do anything I wanted no matter what a doctor said. Water Polo became a distraction for me and I began to feel better and feel less pain. This sport is a way for me to take care of myself and it has been hard because I have felt more physical pain without it. Without the physical therapy that I was getting from water polo my condition has begun to reappear in painful ways. Routine and consistency are a big part of managing EDS, and without the club season that has been difficult.Having a coach that has EDS as well has helped because I have someone to look up to, who was able to play water polo despite his condition. It’s also nice because I have someone who understands.
Another thing I’m grateful for is the friends I have made while on this team. I have been able to bond with people from all over the state of Ohio and some of my best memories are with my friends from Moose. I look up to the seniors on the team, and it is disappointing that we may not get to play a final season together.
I’m sad that basketball was cancelled because I love the game and how it makes me feel when I’m playing. I miss the adrenaline rush I would get rushing to the basket and being part of a team.
It makes me sad that softball was canceled because I like to run around, catch and throw. And I wish I could be playing with my friends. My team went undefeated last spring!