Student Athletics in 2020 - A Retrospective

“Last spring was disappointing but there was so much else going on that the idea of losing a sports season seemed normal, or at least it was the least of anyone’s concerns” says Lisel Ndrecka (MHS 22), who plays Ultimate and runs Cross-Country. Even after losing a season, there was hope that competition would resume in the fall, regardless of whether school would be virtual. When the District’s “return to play plan” was announced during the summer, energy was renewed among athletes. Workouts were posted and coaches kept teams informed in the classroom, but after a summer of work and preparation, the District’s decision to go entirely virtual paired with Governor Wolf’s recent “strong suggestion” that scholastic athletics pause until 2021 allowed the Philadelphia Public League to postpone all sports yet again, effectively canceling the fall season. Practice was set to finally resume in November for select sports, with official Public League Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and social distancing in place, new regulations from the city regarding the latest spike in COVID-19 cases immediately shut down sports until January of 2021 at the earliest.

While the 2020 spring season was shuttered nationwide due to COVID-19, the opportunities of the fall season differed greatly based on school resources. When the Philadelphia Public League canceled all competition in August, so too did the Philadelphia Catholic League. But within weeks, Catholic schools began competition again. Through a combination of parental protests and the resources to hold a safe season, certain teams from Philadelphia’s Catholic League were able to qualify for and compete in district and state championship events, competitions that would normally be much stiffer with the presence of Public League teams. While SDP seniors lost their final fall seasons and public school athletes looking to compete in college lost opportunities to be scouted or set personal records, athletes in the Catholic and private schools in and around Philadelphia were able to compete as usual without spreading COVID-19.

As the Philadelphia Public League struggles to return to play, collegiate competition throughout Pennsylvania is also at a roadblock. At colleges such as Swarthmore and Dickinson, fall competition was canceled, and spring competition has already been canceled or is struggling to get off the ground.

“I play softball at Swarthmore, and we found out our classes were going online while we were on our team trip to Florida over spring break. The whole team, especially the seniors, was absolutely devastated and it was really disappointing to have my first season canceled,” says Eliza Murphy (Class of 2019). “Fast forward to this fall, only freshmen and sophomores were on campus so we had less than half of our team together. We were really lucky to be able to practice and work out as a team especially since exercise and softball have always been ways for me to relieve stress. About halfway through the fall semester we learned that our season was canceled for the upcoming spring. I think we were all expecting this to happen but the day we found out it still felt like a shock.”

Ruby Stricker (Class of 2017), who runs cross country and track at Dickinson College, had even less of a team experience: “My school has been entirely remote since March. I was abroad last pring until Covid, so I wasn't training, but my team kept training by themselves until my coach said to take time off once it was clear no one was going back. This semester, my [centennial] conference cancelled all competition. So even the schools that went back [such as Haverford, Gettysburg, Swarthmore] didn't compete. My team followed a 100-day individual training plan which was pretty similar to our training plan while on campus. It began in August right after they announced they weren't having us come back. We are required to log our runs/workouts on a website called LogARun which we did from mid August to around Thanksgiving. My coach ended up letting some of us stop the training plan if we were feeling really burnt out or crappy doing it ourselves or were not doing well with our mental/physical health - I made it 10 weeks and then decided I'd take some time off. A lot of the seniors did that, because the semester was becoming so intense and we had no idea if we were returning in the spring. Frankly, I haven't decided if I'll be competing when I get back.”

In a year full of monthly setbacks and cancelations, students have felt repeated frustration and disappointment. Every competition canceled, every season lost, has added up to an absence of competition for up to two years for some sports. All athletes have been forced to manage expectations, as a practice or meeting may have been the most sporting experience a team received this year.

“I realized that I would be missing out on half of my college seasons and for the first time in awhile I felt like I didn’t really have anything to be practicing for; we wouldn’t be actually playing until 2022 at the earliest. I think the hardest thing for me about the pandemic as far as softball and college in general has been adjusting my expectations. It was honestly really difficult to go back to campus this fall and have it be so different from how it was last year, but I am just really grateful that I got that time to practice with the full team and have a taste of what normal, non-pandemic college is like. It’s just hard to have this idea in your head of what something will be like and then have it not live up to your expectations because of something you can’t control. That being said, I’m extremely grateful for the experiences I have had and look forward to getting to practice with my team again, whenever that may be,” said Eliza.

Lisel also commented on the enormous length between competitions. “It wasn’t until I remembered the last Ultimate game I played, which was at States in Pittsburgh (May 2019). We were up against one of our last teams of the tournament and I didn’t want to get off the sideline since I was just so tired. I specifically remember telling myself that the next time I would play with the team would be in another year and I shouldn’t take these moments for granted, no matter how tired I was. It still hasn’t processed that the next time I’ll play with the entire team, it’ll have been two years since I’ve touched the field.”

Luke Neale (MHS 23), who runs cross country and track, gave a quick comment on his training. “As a freshman during the beginning of quarantine, it really sucked to have my first track season cancelled. It’s harder to stay motivated when we’re not practicing in person.”

On a hopeful note, Ruby offered some insight into the future of Centennial conference sports. “Spring sports are going to be announced January 12. Once the track team gets to campus and are done quarantining (if they come from a high risk place), they can run individually for a week, and then in small groups for 2 weeks, and then as a team.”

While the Public League is obviously not the NCAA, there is still hope for a modified 2021 competitive season, with a season of “fall sports” from March to April and a shorter spring season from May to June.