With the most recent update from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb putting students back into classrooms no earlier than May 1, the chance of area spring athletes having an opportunity to compete this spring continues to dwindle.
The cancellations and fear over the COVID-19 are increasing daily, and my heart hurts a little more each day for high school seniors.
Athletes or not, the spring semester of your high school senior year is suppose to be a life-highlight that you will remember for the rest of your days. Prom, senior skip day, cookouts, awards banquets, senior roasting — just a continuous celebration of something you have worked hard for.
That is all likely gone for the 2020 seniors.
And it’s OK to be upset.
Yes, much bigger things are at stake, but all of us are entering unchartered waters. Each of our lives are being affected differently, and alterations are happening on a daily basis.
For many of us though, sports have always been at the center of our lives. Whether it’s a grandparent attending a grandchild’s ballgame, a Dad coaching his son’s tee-ball team, college students getting together with their buddies to watch a game, or young athletes competing in high school sports — we are all connected to sports.
And to have that ripped away, nearly without warning, is truly heartbreaking.
We will get through this one step at a time. As a community, as a state, and as a nation.
We will get through it with kindness, prayer, and most importantly with hope.
And when we are finally able to see light at the end of the tunnel, we will do what we’ve always done to overcome hard times.
We will turn to sports to get our minds off all the bad. Using them to reunite, to smile, and to move on.
We will use sports to return to normal. Whatever normal may be.
So in the meantime, I urge everyone to call your grandson whose ball game is canceled, offer to get groceries for your grandparents, and call to chat with a neighbor, who you know is lonely without sports on TV.
The hysteria around COVID-19 is serious. And sports are a big part of it all.
Stay calm, stay smart, and be safe.
