Smith Academy had a professional development day on March 13, 2020. Athletic director Allison Slysz was waiting for word on what the school would do as most school districts in the Pioneer Valley were pausing for a few weeks. Smith Academy decided on two weeks.
“That turned into a prolonged period of time where we realized we wouldn’t get back into the swing of things for a long time,” she said.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, which oversees high school sports in the state, initially delayed the beginning of the spring sports season from April 27 to May 4 in late March last year before eventually canceling the season altogether April 24.
“Having to communicate that to our spring student-athletes and families was heartbreaking,” Slysz said.
Zach Siano coaches boys tennis and soccer at Belchertown High School. The cancellation of last year’s spring season cost the Orioles a chance to defend their Western Massachusetts Divison 3 championship. In 2019, Belchertown had claimed its first tennis title since 2011 after years of runners-up finishes, and most of its key pieces were returning.
“It was disheartening last spring. I certainly felt for our guys — they were ready to run it back,” Siano said. “I really felt bad, truthfully, for our baseball program. They won the Babe Ruth title when they were younger and had that group of seniors. That would have been their ‘riding off into the sunset’ moment.”
Belchertown players, and spring high school athletes across the state, not only lost out on the chance to compete but the opportunities to playfully joke with each other and bond. Siano worked as a special education teacher at Belchertown (he taught in Westfield this year but still coaches at Belchertown) and usually saw his players at study hall or lunch duty.
“It was difficult not to have those interactions,” Siano said. “That’s what that program is built on, that loose, jovial spirit with them.”
As the fall approached, it became clear that sports season would have to look different if it was going to exist at all. The MIAA approved many sports with modifications including masks and rules changes to limit contact but delayed football to a “Fall II” wedge season between winter and spring, which is currently happening. It also left approving specific sports up to individual districts. That meant involving school committees, with athletic directors making presentations advocating for their athletes.
“They need something to do from being out of school since March 13. They needed some sense of normalcy and they needed to be active,” Amherst Regional Athletic Director Victoria Stewart said. “Right after (practice or games), when they’re changing their shoes they’re having conversations they couldn’t have over their laptops.”
She sought to have as many sports as possible approved and play as many games as possible. That meant the volleyball team had to practice outside, industrial-level HVAC air filters were brought into the gym, and the hockey team played all of its games away from its traditional home at Amherst College’s Orr Rink.
“Everything’s a lot tougher. Everyone’s like, ‘What are your protocols?’” Stewart said. “The kids really bought into everything.”
Every team played shorter seasons, and many had games against regional teams they don’t typically face due to the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference placing its teams into pods to limit travel. That curtailed some traditional rivalries — Northampton didn’t play Amherst, and Belchertown couldn’t face Ludlow in soccer despite the schools being separated by just 9½ miles.
The modifications also required teams to alter how they practiced, dividing the teams into cohorts and keeping similar groups together.
“We usually conduct ourselves in a fairly militaristic fashion,” Siano said. “It put more importance on the rules and knowing the expectations.”
Being able to play sports again when she started soccer in the fall made Hampshire Regional senior Maddie Pond realize things she’d taken for granted representing the Raiders.
“Being away from sports for so long made me realize how much of a positive impact that they have on my mental health. I know now not to take anything for granted,” she said. “I appreciate this time with my team more than anything.”
Fans haven’t been allowed at many of the indoor games, so some schools took to livestreaming the contests on YouTube or Facebook so parents and friends could still watch, which is one facet of pandemic athletics that will likely stick around.
Even as many of the schools in the Valley established some sort of new normal and had sports in the fall or winter, Smith Academy stayed on the sidelines. Slysz didn’t recommend the School Committee approve anything for the initial fall season or the winter.
“It was very difficult. I was just trying to think about the health and safety of everyone. The cost much outweighed the benefit at that time. I wholeheartedly believe we made the decision we did for our community and we did what was best for everybody,” she said. “Now at this point with things calming down and numbers getting better, the cost/benefit analysis has shifted.”
The Fall II season is serving as a catch-all for sports that schools decided not to play either in the fall or winter. The Falcons will sponsor soccer, even as that meant shoveling off the parking lot to practice with the field out of commission due to snow.
“It’s been awesome this past week to see the life in some of these kids’ eyes. It’s cold, they’re playing in a parking lot. They’re loving every second of it and eating it all up. It’s cool to see the change in body language and seeing everyone expressive and engaged,” Slysz said. “The kids are really willing to do whatever it takes so they can play.”
Northampton’s basketball programs are finally able to have games against other teams after practicing for the entire winter season. The city’s ban on all close contact sports without a detailed plan limited what the Blue Devils could do.
“Having them be able to do something was important. Even if we weren’t going to get to play, the opportunity to be together and practice and get their skills improved was important for them mentally,” Northampton girls basketball coach Perry Messer said.
“You see a pep in their step. There’s only so much practice you can do. I give them a lot of credit how much practice and hard work they’ve had to do.”
The outlook for the spring season, set to begin April 26 across the state — though the PVIAC has typically opened later than central and eastern Mass. — appears even better. The board of directors has approved sectional and state tournaments for the first time. Nearly all of the sports play outside, and most are low risk, according to Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs guidelines.
“There s a lot of talk about what COVID took away from everyone, but there’s a lot we still have when you focus on the positives,” Pond said. “I have a greater admiration for everything our administration and our school committee does to keep us safe.”