The Massachusetts high school fall sports season wrapped up over the weekend, with teams from across the Commonwealth finishing up their local conference tournaments and giving thanks for the ability to play this fall. And as I sit here following a nearly two-month marathon of covering game after game, I must say that I’m impressed.
I’m impressed with how things were handled by every school and program that was allowed to play this year. I’m impressed with how the coaches rolled with the punches as games were moved and practices were limited. I’m impressed with the athletic directors, who worked day and night to schedule games and organize buses and keep track of safety protocols for a number of different sports. I’m impressed with the student-athletes, who battled through uncertainty and remote/hybrid learning and a limited schedule to make the most of their seasons, some of which were the final seasons of their high school athletic careers.
Despite everything that we missed out on, from high school football to seeing great battles at the Lynn City Tournament in a number of sports, we still saw a lot of great things. We saw the St. John’s Prep soccer team allow four goals throughout an entire season. We saw the Bishop Fenwick field hockey team win the CCL Cup — which was created in lieu of a state tournament this year. We saw a number of student-athletes — Bishop Fenwick’s Steven Woods, Jacob Vargus, Colby Browne, Troy Irizarry and Jason Romans, St. Mary’s Jackson Field and Lynnfield’s Ava Buonfiglio — become four-sport athletes. And we saw the St. Mary’s field hockey team complete its first ever varsity season, in which the Spartans made it all the way to the CCL Cup semifinal.
Sure, things weren’t perfect. There were many schools and programs that didn’t get to take the field this fall, and even some of the ones who did get to play had games canceled and finished with shortened seasons. But we always knew that would be the case. Based on the circumstances everyone was given this season, there’s no way you can look at the totality of the fall and say that this was a failure.
And now, this gives us an opportunity to look ahead. Winter sports have been approved by the MIAA Board of Directors, and practices will begin on Dec. 14 for basketball, ice hockey, gymnastics, swim and dive, alpine skiing and nordic skiing. Yes, safety modifications have been put in place much like the fall. But also much like the fall, the essence of each sport will not be diminished by the adjustments. The sports are not going to look exactly the same as they have in years past, and there won’t be any state championship banners raised for the 2020-2021 season.
But the kids will be out there playing, the coaches will be out there coaching and the fans will be watching — whether in person or via livestream (which has been another “plus” that’s come from this fall).
And that’s all anyone should be worried about.