College Athletic Seasons Suddenly Canceled

College Athletic Seasons Suddenly Canceled  

By Hayley Tobin 

JRN100 Stonehill News Staff Writer  

The coronavirus threw spring athletes a curveball.  

College seniors were left stunned by the sudden, early end to their collegiate athletic careers when the coronavirus forced sports seasons to be canceled.  

Julia Hartman, a senior softball player from Stonehill College, had high expectations going into the 2020 season. Now there will always be the question of what could have been.  

“I was really ready to prove myself and give this last year all I got,” Hartman said. “I am going to miss the emotions that this game brought. The laughter, the excitement, the energy, all of it will be incredibly missed.”  

Social distancing protocols have been enforced across the country to help combat the spread of the virus which, as of April 27, had infected 3,055,651 people and caused 211,065 deaths worldwide according to the worldometer, a website tracking the total number of COVID-19 cases.  

“COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in close contact (within about 6 feet) for a prolonged period. Spread happens when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and droplets from their mouth or nose are launched into the air and land in the mouths or noses of people nearby,” the CDC said.  

In Massachusetts the stay at home advisory was put into place on March 23 by Governor Charlie Baker to urge residents to stay in their homes except to gather essential items. Baker also issued an “order requiring all non-essential businesses to close through May 4,” according to NBC Boston. The stay at home advisory and closure of nonessential businesses has been extended through May 18.  

 Hartman and Sydney Pounds of Western New England University have not experienced a spring without softball in nearly 15 years, until now. 

They have spent so much of their lives training and competing. Due to COVID-19 they have lost their last season of softball, and the ability to physically attend classes. This loss has altered their lives and left them feeling a bit lost. 

“Especially senior athletes, we have it pretty hard and I don’t think a lot of people can even put themselves into our shoes to experience how devastating this actually is,” Hartman said. 

Pounds echoed a similar tone regarding the loss of her final season. 

“I think with the current situation, more than anything, with my final season of softball being taken away along with my last semester of college I am hurt, sad and angry,” Pounds said. 

On March 12 President of the NCAA Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. This decision was based on the threat posed to public health as a result of COVID-19. 

A letter written by members of the NCAA Division I, II, and III Student- Athlete Advisory Committees tried to put the cancellation of seasons into perspective.  

“While the cancellation of a senior season or a year of eligibility is monumental, as student-athletes, we are doing our part to be responsible citizens in the setting of a widespread COVID-19 outbreak in the United States and throughout the world,” the committees said.  

Now, without softball taking up most of her time Hartman is working full time at a grocery store. In addition to working 40 hours a week she is keeping up with her online course load.  

Pounds is also working at a small convenience store in her town to save up money for when her student loan payments start rolling in.   

For athletes, sports are an escape from stress and despite softball being canceled both Hartman and Pounds are trying to keep active, stay busy and relieve the stress in their lives in other ways. 

Not only has COVID-19 disrupted the semester and the season it has also left college seniors feeling uncertain about their plans following graduation.  

 “I plan to work at a marketing agency in Boston. COVID-19 has impacted these plans because now that most marketing agencies are ‘non-essential’ it’s hard to get in contact with them to even apply,” Hartman said. 

Pounds said that many businesses have hiring freezes. 

“Although most places I have applied to so far are still open, the employees are working from home, and each place called me to tell me they are not hiring right now because of the COVID-19 shutdown,” Pounds said. 

The NCAA has granted an extra year of eligibility for spring athletes in terms of adding a fifth year to their college education. At Stonehill, in order to take this fifth year the senior athlete would have to drop one of their current courses and retake it again next spring or enroll in graduate courses in the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021 to be eligible to play. 

However, both seniors said they are searching for jobs following graduation and most likely will not take the fifth year of eligibility.  

For Hartman not taking the fifth year has to do with her career path as she does not intend to pursue graduate school right away nor is she interested in dropping a current course.  

For Pounds she is still debating whether she will take the opportunity to play one last season but injuries among other things are making it seem like less and less of a possibility. She does not believe that her body can withstand playing another season.  

“I think I am leaning more towards not playing another year because although I still do not have plans after graduation, it would cost a lot of money to go back to school and play another season as much as I would really love to,” Pounds said. 

Even though their senior seasons were cut short and they will not experience a senior day ceremony at their final home game, or playoffs, they said that the relationships and lessons softball has given them will help in whatever their future holds. 

“Some takeaways from being a softball player are definitely how to work with a team, time management and understanding that you can’t always win,” Hartman said. 

Pounds also recognized how athletics influenced her ability to work with a wide variety of people.  

“There are a lot of lessons I could take away from my softball experience, but I think the most important ones are learning how to communicate with different people in different ways, and respect is a two-way street,” Pounds said. 

COVID-19 has altered the way in which people live their normal lives, how they work, shop, connect with friends and family are now significantly different than they were a month ago. 

Pounds said most athletes understand that the crisis is bigger than sports and that it has made her realize that she does not want to take life for granted. 

 “Since no one could have seen something like this coming, some of us have probably been going through motions and living their lives day-by-day. You would not think you are going to have things like jobs, sports, or your education taken from you at a random time, but it just shows nothing is guaranteed,” Pounds said.