By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD — High school athletes began practice for spring sports March 6, only to be told a week later that the season was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order barring gatherings and closing schools put baseball, softball, golf, tennis, lacrosse, track and field and other sports on hold, not just keeping the players from doing something they love but possibly jeopardizing their futures.
The NJSIAA set the date for the first scrimmage as March 13, while the first competitive games were scheduled to start March 25 for lacrosse and April 1 for other sports.
Michel Gatley, athletic director at Mainland Regional High School, said athletes “got in a week of practice before this hit and the league is looking at some possibilities if schools are open and we are allowed to participate, having a modified Cape-Atlantic League season, even allowing some things in May for seniors.”
“We are just trying to come up with the what ifs. There are many more questions than answers,” Gatley said.
He said both seniors and juniors are missing out on important aspects of their lives. The junior spring athletes are perhaps the ones most affected by the situation because it likely is their final shot at being seen by college recruiters who are trying to decide whether to accept them onto their teams or not.
“You really have two classes of kids that are being impacted in different ways,” Gatley said. “The biggest issue for the kids, being a senior, you can’t even explain how important the memories are. But what really hurts the spring athletes is, you really have only three years for a school to look at you. The juniors that are not participating this spring are in an awful position. Juniors will be the most impacted as far as college is concerned, as far as getting to the next level. They are going to feel the brunt of this.”
Club teams and summer camps offer a chance for some athletes to be seen by recruiters but track and field athletes do not have that option.
“Track is all about time and distance. If you can’t send that to coaches because you’re not participating, it’s like being injured,” Gatley said. “We might be able to salvage some of this season, but the bottom line is that if colleges can’t see you, it’s pretty difficult for colleges to evaluate you if you are not participating.”
Gatley said the school and league “have a plan if we go back in April” but at this point they are just taking it day by day.
“We all seem to be hovering around the same idea but not necessarily on the same page because no one knows what the future holds,” Gatley said. “It’s a very open-ended situation right now, but if we go back in April there will be a modified CAL season. If we go back in May, there will be a modified senior-driven opportunity.”