Ending Champs
By Jesse Semeniak
JRN 100 Stonehill News Staff Writer
Stonehill College seniors Gabrielle Reuter, Morgan O’Brien, Kelsey Shaw, and Grace Carter were having the season of their dreams when the unimaginable happened. All games were suddenly cancelled.
Still riding the high of winning an NE-10 Championship, the Stonehill Women’s Basketball team was pumped to compete in the NCAA Regional Tournament when the NCAA cancelled all spring sports and post winter championships.
“We were lucky to have a full season.” Carter said.
Although, they were unable to advance to the NCAA Regionals, where they were given the second seed out of 16 teams.
Tens of thousands of student-athletes across the United States experienced the same thing as the country attempted to control the coronavirus outbreak. Everything from schools and sports to concerts and jobs were shut down. In an unprecedented step, almost the entire nation closed down in an effort to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
COVID-19, a pandemic that has swept the globe, is a highly infectious disease that has to date, infected over 2 million people and killed almost 200,000 worldwide. It has overwhelmed healthcare facilities and crippled economies the world over.
Even though student-athletes understand the need for the drastic changes effecting their lives, they are still disheartened to have not been able to finish their seasons, and in the case of the seniors, to have their college careers end so abruptly. They had played their last game without even knowing it.
Seniors said they understood that a larger tragedy is unfolding with people sick and dying and losing their jobs but they acknowledged a deep sense of sadness at having their senior sports experiences stripped away when it was within their grasp.
Still, seniors said they were more than grateful for the four years they got and felt sympathy for their fellow athletes in other sports who got no season at all. Spring sports such as softball, baseball, and outdoor track and field who got little to no season at all.
The pandemic affected much more than the sports season for the seniors. It cancelled their last few months as college students, their graduations, award ceremonies and saying goodbye to friends.
“We waited four years to have one month of college that was not dedicated to basketball,” said Carter.
Shaw said too.
“What I’ll miss the most is the missed opportunities that I’ve been waiting for these past four years,”
As the seniors finish up their last semester online, students said they are beginning to worry about their post-graduation plans. Many jobs are disappearing due to the outbreak.
Carter, a political science major, has applied to numerous jobs in her area, including some at marketing firms and one as an assistant town manager of Bedford, Massachusetts.
Yet, she received the same response: “Thank you for your application, but due to COVID-19 we are not hiring at the moment.”
Shaw, a health science major, had gotten accepted to the Peace Corps just weeks before the college was shut down. Her deployment to Morocco is slated for September, and so far it hasn’t been affected.
She is now applying for jobs closer to home, because she is worried her mission will be postponed as many of the missions in the up-coming months already have.
The seniors said Stonehill College is doing a good job of helping them navigate the future, sending resumes out to different companies, and aiding them in the job search as best as possible.
As heartbreaking as these times are, the senior basketball players said they are will look back fondly on the memories they made playing with their teammates
It's very difficult for seniors and this sheds a light on what they are going through. It's very sad. - Mary
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