COVID-19’s Negative Impact On High School Sports

In this article, I will be bringing in opinions on this topic from High School football players from my local high school, coaches from my local high school, and people from the community that are very close to High School athletics.

Players Opinions

Riley Moore, QB, Senior: It is affecting us players because it doesn’t give us the ability to have summer workouts and 7 on 7’s to prepare for the upcoming season. Our season was moved into the spring and it is kind of upsetting. We don’t have the chance to have a normal and complete season in our senior year. We can’t handle business how we would like and we will have to adapt to our situation.

Judge Norwood, OL/DL, Senior: As seniors in high school, we have millions of things running through our minds each day, and being able to get on the field at 3:30 and clear our minds is the greatest thing for us. Most of us have been doing this for four years, and we still want our chance to play. I think I can speak for all senior student-athletes when I say this. We have been waiting our whole lives to get to walk across the field on senior night, and when there is a chance that we might not even do that, it truly hurts. It may sound crazy to some, but the mental health of student-athletes need to be taken into account. Most of us have been playing sports for our school since we were in elementary. It’s like it has become a part of us, and when it is taken away from us, some of us don’t know what to do. The coaches have been struggling trying to keep their team together and keep workouts going. We’re all adapting to the “new normal”.

Bradley Biddix, OL/DL, Senior: As a senior it is scary not knowing that your season might be taken away from you. My senior season is something that I have been waiting for since I started playing back in elementary school. Most people don’t know how much time, effort, and dedication we put in. As a football player our practicing and training doesn’t stop. We are training all year long, whether it is lifting weights and conditioning or sitting in a team meeting going over plays. Just knowing that I might not get to play football ever again truly terrifies me. As players we feel like we have something to prove and if we don’t get to show it then we’re going to feel like all of this time we put in was for nothing. I feel like all of us athletes would rather take that risk over not getting to play the sport we love.

Seth Baird, K/S, Senior: Covid has affected us players by complicating our preseason. With so much uncertainty with everything going on student athletes have had a difficult time training. We struggle finding places to train and we really don’t even know what time train for. It has also served issues with recruiting. As the season has been pushed further I assume it will make it a more difficult time to put ourselves on the radar of different college teams. Coaches have struggled with getting the players together in large groups. Just as us, they have had to adapt to the new way of training. We have all had to follow the Covid-19 guidelines and it has made it hard to get everyone together. The school itself depends on the revenue taken in from sporting events to help fund other activities. With that, schools are trying everything in their power to continue with sports this year, but the governor’s guidelines and safety precautions will be hard to bring fans into stadiums.

Andrew McGinnis, LB/RB, Senior: Covid-19 has drastically impacted our high school sports. Athletics are essential in schools because it teaches people many life skills, such as teamwork and work ethic, not to mention the fact that it keeps us active and healthy. With the delay of sports due to Covid-19 our athletes are being denied the chance to participate in crucial activities and oppurtunites that they have already worked hard for. In my opinion I think we should have never delayed the seasons and we should play on a regular schedule like we did in the past. My reasoning for this is that the disease mainly affects the elderly. Participating in sports will keep us healthy and our immune systems strong, which will lower the risk of having any drastic symptoms even if we do contract the disease itself. In conclusion, the good still outweighs the bad and there may be alot of disease cases but not enough deaths to have our way of life come to a halt.

Community Member’s Opinions

Daniel Crawley: I can’t speak on behalf of the coaches or parents but as a sports fan in the community it’s a weird feeling not starting the school year with traditional fall sports, but it’s just a part of the environment that we live in right now. I think a lot of people assumed this virus would magically all leave by the summer and obviously that isn’t the case. I think the best thing right now is to be keep an optimistic mindset. A plan is in place to play sports this year if health conditions allow. It’s almost important as a community to do the right things to give our high school athletes a chance to play.

Ricky Carr: Sports are an outlet for many high school kids, it is one place they feel important, wanted and part of something. The social aspect of high school is just as important as the academic part of it. In a way, it shapes us into who we are, the good and the bad. We have stolen this from our youth and we can’t make this up to them. No one living today has had this taken from them like our high school kids now. To have government officials take this so lightly amazes me. We have made our youth into political pawns and given them zero say so in the decisions that are changing their lives.

Neil Norwood: First off I want to say I understand this pandemic is something none of us have ever dealt with. As a parent of a High School senior athlete, I have watched my son grow and learn life lessons thru sports since he was 5. Football being at the forefront. Talking with him countless times through the years about playing varsity football, or as we call it “Friday Night Lights”. Talking about that senior year being the last ride. Senior night walking across their field one by one to get the recognition they deserve for all the blood, sweat and tears they have gave.     To think there is a chance that will be taken away from all the seniors breaks my heart because I know it does theirs.  As a father of a high school athlete it especially breaks my heart for him, because I know it does his. As a father I’m able to fix most things that affects him in this way, but knowing I am not able to fix any of this , well it sucks plain and simple.  One last thing before I’m done. To see all these protests going on , people in the hundreds all over the country not wearing masks and not social distancing. To have elected officials say these such events are not impacting the spread of Covid . Although our student athletes may not even get to get on the field and play a sport they love to play.  That in my book is unfair to these student athletes.