By Sophia Esposito
The Corona Virus outbreak cancelled winter sports tournaments many Hornets hoped to win, and due to the cancellation of the 2019-2020 school year, the spring sports season has been cancelled also.
In early March, many of our winter sports teams hoped to bring home their titles to the Hornets. Many of our teams had prospered throughout their seasons, anticipating wins to come in the SCC/State tournaments.
But, unfortunately, in mid-March the CIAC had to make a difficult call in the beginning of the virus, to cancel winter sport tournaments in order to prevent the spread. Specifically, two of our Hornet teams were extremely disappointed, our Boy’s Hockey Team in addition to our Girl’s Dance Team.
On March 9th the boys defeated South Windsor with a score of 5-2 to earn them the title of SCC Champions, for the second year in a row. The boys tied the game 2-2 in the 2nd period, scoring 3 more goals to secure the win. The boys hoped to play in the Division II State Tournament, in which they won last year, but did not get the opportunity to because of the corona virus pandemic.
Junior Declan Ross stated that on the day the CIAC announced the cancellation, “The boys and I could not believe the news. We were devastated. Something so sudden took away all of our hard work throughout the season and hopes to repeat as state champions. The whole team was saddened by the news.” In addition, senior Zach Jones felt that “our chance to make history was ruined.”
The girl’s dance team was also devastated when the cancellation of winter tournaments meant that they could not compete in their biggest competition, at regionals. The girls had placed highly in the previous competitions, hoping they would secure placement at regionals. Earlier in the season, the girls had placed 2nd in jazz and 4th in hip hop at the Battle of the Northeast Dance Challenge, had double wins at the Fairfield Warde Dance Competition, placed 11th in the nation at Nationals, and were double champions at states.
Senior and captain Johnna Palmese of the dance team said, “when we were abruptly given the news that the outbreak of the corona virus resulted in our season being cut short, along side many other school sports and events, we were devastated and heartbroken. We are so fortunate that we got to experience as much as we did this season, are we are so sad for those who were just getting started. With the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that we’ve put into this team, it just hurts that we will never get the ending that we dreamed of. We will never know if we came out of the season with 4 gold chains. What we do know is that we made every moment count and had the best time doing so with the time we had together, and we wouldn’t trade any of it for a thing.”
Senior captains Bella Petrosino and Sammi Esposito also quoted their feelings. Petrosino said, “after so much hard work and growth throughout our season, it is very disappointing for it to be cut short. However I am proud of our accomplishments prior to the virus and they will not be forgotten!” Esposito said, “though we didn’t have the chance to compete at regionals, I am still so proud of everything we accomplished during our time together. We are so lucky that we had the oppurtunity to compete for the majority of the season, and I’m so thankful that we were able to end our high school dance team careers by winning 2 more state championships.”
After the cancellation of the tournaments, many winter sport athletes went to the CIAC headquarters to protest. Not buckling under the pressure, the CIAC stood with their decision of cancellation in order to keep the public safe and healthy from the virus. In efforts to restore faith to the athletes and to flatten the curve, the CIAC advertised the “CT Will Play Again” campaign for spring sports.
However, with many schools closing down around the state, the CIAC decided on April 23rd that all spring sport experiences would be limited to the month of June. Many people speculated to play into July, but the CIAC believed doing so would present significant challenges. The CIAC also stated their correspondence with Governor Ned Lamont, to cancel all spring sports season and tournaments if the 2019-2020 school year would remain closed through the end of the academic year.
On Tuesday, May 5th, Governor Lamont said that public schools buildings will remain closed through the end of the school year due to the virus. On May 7th, the CIAC made their official statement towards cancelling the spring sports and out of season rules. Many athletes expected the termination of the season, but the official call still impacted many.
Senior captain of the softball team, Abby Spivey claimed, “having my senior season cancelled was really hard for me. Knowing that I wasn’t able to really appreciate all the “lasts” of everything still makes me upset. I’m going to miss the sisterhood that the team had with each other. I was really excited to help lead the team this year and have a positive outcome but I am also excited to see what the team will accomplish next year!”
For now we can only hope that our 2020 fall sports season will go unaffected by the corona virus. Until then, stay safe and healthy!
Go Hornets!
