Eliana Bukai, Reporter
@EBukaiCourant
The closing of schools due to COVID-19 has presented a multitude of unique challenges, but has been particularly difficult to the 2020 senior class. Seniors lost the typical graduation, prom, and overall second-semester senior experience.
Notably, many seniors lost out on their final spring sports season.
Although schools closed mid-march, the CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference) did not officially make the decision to cancel the spring season until May 5th. The delayed announcement brought a sense of uncertainty to many athletes, who still had hoped they would get to compete.
Senior athlete Liz Kuchinski, a member of the softball team, is one such athlete. “I think everyone knew that the spring season wouldn’t be normal. A lot of people I know went into it still having coaches sending workouts to do at home, still doing training, but not really knowing anything. Nothing was for certain. I feel like we all knew, but no one really wanted to accept it,” she said.
Senior lacrosse captain Jane Charlton says she wasn’t surprised by the cancellation. “Everyone was expecting it because everywhere around us, everything had been getting canceled,” she said.
Although many expected the devastating news, it was still extremely difficult for many athletes to comprehend. “There’s just no way to prepare for it so I was absolutely devastated in the moment the season was cancelled, I started bawling,” Jane said. “I face timed all the other seniors on the lacrosse team and we shared a moment together.”
Senior track captain Ryan Lytle also expressed sadness recalling the final cancellation. “I realized right at that moment that I would never be able to run for NCHS again,” he said.“Realizing I couldn’t be with my team ever again was upsetting, memories that could have happened won’t.”
Liz not only lost her spring softball season, but the winter postseason was cancelled for her hockey team as well.“For girls hockey, It was really hard because we had state semi-finals that night and state championships just two days later,” Liz said. “One of the hardest things, probably, was for us to have everything taken away.”
The cancellation of the spring season was more expected. “Still, it was so hard since we already had our team meeting and we were already starting Sunday night practices,” Liz said. “We were already starting our season, tryouts were coming up, we met up with the team and we talked about plans for positioning for this year, so it was hard. We just had so many different ideas of what the season could be or look like.”
While the class of 2020 is undoubtedly facing unique challenges, it has also greatly affected the junior class, who were looking to use the spring season as an opportunity to impress college coaches. It is most often junior year that college scouts begin to look at and recruit athletes, and so this season the process has been unable to occur as it does traditionally.
Junior member of the tennis team, Jordyn Lee, faced this problem. “Once a college closed I was unable to meet with the coaches or the teams. College tennis showcases, USTA tournaments, and my high school season have all been cancelled, so I’ve been unable to have opportunities for coaches to see me play,” she said.
Jordyn has, however, compensated for these recruiting limitations. I’ve been keeping in contact with coaches through email and phone, I’ve sent in videos of me doing independent tennis drills and workouts, and college coaches have been great about staying in touch,” Jordyn said. “Stay in touch with college coaches if you’re looking to be recruited.”
Although many NCHS senior athletes had already committed to college sports prior to the pandemic, they have also had to compensate for the unusual situation in which they must begin preparing for their college athletic careers. Jane is committed to Duke University for lacrosse. “We have team group chats and had a class of 2020 zoom session with our coach, the academic advisor, two assistant coaches, the volunteer coach, and the team trainer,” she said. “They all just checked in on the class of 2020 recruits and they’re keeping a lot of contact which is awesome”.
It seems as if, for those seniors who do plan to play sports in college, promises of competitive seasons in the coming years help to shed light on this lost, final high school season.
“Fortunately, I’ll be running in college so I’ve remained optimistic because I know I’ll still have four more years,” Ryan said. “It’s still difficult because I think of all the good memories we’ve had these past four years, so knowing I can’t continue to make those memories for the outdoor season is really sad.”
An additional disappointment is that many athletes will be unable to reach goals due to the cancellation. “I wanted to qualify for State Opens, that was a huge goal of mine. I felt like fitness-wise, I was pretty good, I felt I was going to set some big personal records,” Ryan said.
Although COVID-19 has taken the spring season away, it is not the only season Ryan lost this year. During the fall cross country season, he was injured and unable to compete. “In the fall I learned that you can’t control everything, and what really matters is what you make out of a situation and how you respond,” he said. “I try to find positive when everything seems to be going wrong.”
Although the situation is undeniably difficult, finding positives has appeared a common theme among athletes. Liz mentions efforts made by the girl’s hockey team to cope with the sudden end to their season. “We’re trying to make it easier on the team by doing front door drop-offs including paper plate awards, player posters, everything we would usually do at the banquet,” she said. And for softball, “the girls on the team went around to all of the seniors’ houses and dropped off cute packages with candy, some notes, and cards. I think that does make it easier because with sports, 90% of it is the team, so this reminds us what a good couple years we’ve had with these people,” Liz said.
“I’m looking forward to the future now and I’m looking on the bright side which is that no one on the team is affected too bad, we’re all healthy, we’re all safe, we all have each other still even if we’re not on the field together,” Jane said. “At the same time, this season would have been so good and I’m really upset for all the girls that never got a chance to compete this year.”
Over the course of their athletic careers, many athletes have made important, lasting connections. “I want my coaches to know just how thankful I am for each and every one of them. Same with all my friends and teammates who were also robbed of this season, who helped me become not only a better player but a better person, who were always there for me,” Jane said. “Now we won’t have a chance to play together anymore, so just thank you to all of them.”
Although devastated, Liz shares her thoughts regarding next season’s potential for rising seniors and underclassmen. “When you’re upset about something, it’s a reminder of how good it is,” Liz said. “For those that still have other years, this should just remind them how much they love what they do, just be excited about next season.”
