For the Love of the Game and Kids
By Olivia Gobel
With a growing number of Covid cases in Androscoggin county, high school athletes are facing a fog of uncertainty going into the winter.
So many things have changed since March 13 in Maine this year. High school sports are no exception. It started with a complete cancellation of spring sports at the beginning of April: softball, baseball, outdoor track, and lacrosse. Fall sports remained in limbo for most of the summer, until they were finally cleared to start in mid-September. However, three key fall sports – volleyball, wrestling, and tackle football (arguably the most-watched high school sport) were not starting due to their high level of risk for players. All fall athletes had the option of doing summer workouts, which met about twice a week and involved staying six feet apart, sanitizing, and wearing masks at the beginning and end of each workout. I interviewed three athletes to get their take on this altered fall season, which concluded November 6th.
Brady Martin spent a month in Florida at a football training camp and came back with sun-bleached hair and high hopes for his sophomore football season. But he was crushed when the state decided against tackle football for the 2020 season. Martin is a defensive back and slotback on the PRHS football team, often playing alongside his two sisters, Izzy and Emma. Instead of playing flag football, like several other sophomore boys this fall, Martin opted to play on the boys soccer team. He made the varsity team and spent the season as a defender. Unlike Martin, some other fall athletes still played their fall sports, even with the changes.
Rylee Smith plays striker on the PRHS JV soccer team, and has played since second grade. My first question for her was, what are the new rule restrictions and how have they affected soccer?
“At the beginning of practice we wear masks, and answer questions to make sure we don’t have COVID-19 symptoms,” Rylee said. “We are allowed to take our masks off when we do sprints (but we have to spread out) and when we scrimmage. We also put on hand sanitizer at the beginning and end of each practice. [In games] we wear masks on the sidelines, and have to have our masks on our bodies while playing [on wrists, in pocket, etc.] We have quarter [every 15 minutes] sanitization breaks. For away games, the team is split and takes different buses.”
My next question for the sophomore involved how she felt about soccer, since the rules have changed the way she played. She made a face.
“They haven’t affected [my love for the game] at all because I just love soccer and I’ll do whatever if it means I get to play, even if it means hand sanitizer and masks,” she said.
Do you think all these rules were unnecessary?
“No, I think they’re necessary to help lower the spread of COVID-19, and to help keep our county in green so we can play sports,” she said. At the time of our interview, cases were on a sharp rise across the state of Maine (still rising), putting winter and spring sports seasons in jeopardy. Smith always thinks about next year’s soccer season: “I hope that it’s going to be better,” she said. “It depends on finding a vaccine, otherwise it will be a lot worse.”
I interviewed Emma Moreau, a varsity starter for the PRHS field hockey team. She explained the field hockey team’s experience at practices and games: “We have to wear masks for warm ups (warm up lap, stretches, and shuttles.) We also can’t be at the field until a coach is there. We have to wear masks on the bus to games, and we can only take our masks off during games and vigorous activities in practice.”
Following or interview, the state mandated that athletes must wear masks during all of their games and practices, a sharp contrast to the fall season.
Moreau agrees with Smith about how much these rules have affected her love of the game, saying “Not really. I mean, at the beginning it was hard to put our masks on after sprints.” Unlike Smith, however, she thinks that “wearing masks while we warm up is unnecessary, and so is not being able to be at the field unless there is a coach.” She also offers her take on next fall’s field hockey season, when Emma will be a junior. “I have no idea. Depending on COVID it will be the same as this year, but I feel like COVID won’t be as bad.”
Emma is also a returning player on the PRHS girls’ basketball team. I asked her how she’s feeling going into the winter season, and she said, “I don’t think we’re gonna have it...field hockey is outside with minimal contact, while basketball is inside and you obviously have to pass the ball with your hands.”
Out of curiosity, I asked her how likely she thinks it is that basketball is going to be played (on a scale from one to ten, ten being very likely, one being not likely at all) and she answered with a resigned “one”. But, ever the optimist, she adds, “I’m worried that we’re not gonna have it, but I’m also a little bit happy because it’s a good opportunity for me to try something new.”
Lastly, I interviewed Lisha Powell, a talented student-athlete on the cross-country team. She describes the changes to her practices and meets: “In practice we wear masks whenever we aren’t running. We also stay six feet apart, sanitize at the beginning and end of practice, and answer questions to make sure we don’t have symptoms of COVID-19. We only have meets with one other school. We also social distance on the starting line, wearing our masks right up until we start running. For qualifiers, it’s only the top seven runners for each team. No other people can attend (parents or team members)”
She says she feels “pretty much the same about cross-country [since the regulations] because we can still practice like normal...but qualifying is a lot harder.” Powell believes that these restrictions for cross-country are “pretty reasonable.” She’s not very optimistic about next season, saying “I’m guessing there will be some precautions, like no big meets maybe? Or there won’t be many of them. Depending on several factors, we’ll probably have to wear masks or social distance.”
Powell is also a winter athlete, on the PRHS indoor track team. I asked her some questions too, starting with how she thinks the season will be different this year. “Well, it might not happen, but if it does, we’ll probably have to wear masks while we’re inside. There will probably be small meets (or none.) ” I gave her the same scale as Moreau and asked her guess as to the likelihood of indoor track running this winter. “I think the likelihood is like a 2 or a 3 because indoor track meets are always big and crowded.” Then I ask her how she’s feeling going into the season: “I don’t really love indoor track to begin with, and the idea of such close contact worries me.”
If Androscoggin County’s risk color changes remains yellow, it may eliminate winter and spring athletes’ hopes for competitive seasons. If that is the case, that would make two seasons lost for spring sports, greatly affecting everyone, especially the seniors who lost last season too.
From all athletes, we ask that you please wear a mask and be careful. If you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for us, high school athletes who just want to play the games we love.
By Olivia Gobel
With a growing number of Covid cases in Androscoggin county, high school athletes are facing a fog of uncertainty going into the winter.
So many things have changed since March 13 in Maine this year. High school sports are no exception. It started with a complete cancellation of spring sports at the beginning of April: softball, baseball, outdoor track, and lacrosse. Fall sports remained in limbo for most of the summer, until they were finally cleared to start in mid-September. However, three key fall sports – volleyball, wrestling, and tackle football (arguably the most-watched high school sport) were not starting due to their high level of risk for players. All fall athletes had the option of doing summer workouts, which met about twice a week and involved staying six feet apart, sanitizing, and wearing masks at the beginning and end of each workout. I interviewed three athletes to get their take on this altered fall season, which concluded November 6th.
Brady Martin spent a month in Florida at a football training camp and came back with sun-bleached hair and high hopes for his sophomore football season. But he was crushed when the state decided against tackle football for the 2020 season. Martin is a defensive back and slotback on the PRHS football team, often playing alongside his two sisters, Izzy and Emma. Instead of playing flag football, like several other sophomore boys this fall, Martin opted to play on the boys soccer team. He made the varsity team and spent the season as a defender. Unlike Martin, some other fall athletes still played their fall sports, even with the changes.
Rylee Smith plays striker on the PRHS JV soccer team, and has played since second grade. My first question for her was, what are the new rule restrictions and how have they affected soccer?
“At the beginning of practice we wear masks, and answer questions to make sure we don’t have COVID-19 symptoms,” Rylee said. “We are allowed to take our masks off when we do sprints (but we have to spread out) and when we scrimmage. We also put on hand sanitizer at the beginning and end of each practice. [In games] we wear masks on the sidelines, and have to have our masks on our bodies while playing [on wrists, in pocket, etc.] We have quarter [every 15 minutes] sanitization breaks. For away games, the team is split and takes different buses.”
My next question for the sophomore involved how she felt about soccer, since the rules have changed the way she played. She made a face.
“They haven’t affected [my love for the game] at all because I just love soccer and I’ll do whatever if it means I get to play, even if it means hand sanitizer and masks,” she said.
Do you think all these rules were unnecessary?
“No, I think they’re necessary to help lower the spread of COVID-19, and to help keep our county in green so we can play sports,” she said. At the time of our interview, cases were on a sharp rise across the state of Maine (still rising), putting winter and spring sports seasons in jeopardy. Smith always thinks about next year’s soccer season: “I hope that it’s going to be better,” she said. “It depends on finding a vaccine, otherwise it will be a lot worse.”
I interviewed Emma Moreau, a varsity starter for the PRHS field hockey team. She explained the field hockey team’s experience at practices and games: “We have to wear masks for warm ups (warm up lap, stretches, and shuttles.) We also can’t be at the field until a coach is there. We have to wear masks on the bus to games, and we can only take our masks off during games and vigorous activities in practice.”
Following or interview, the state mandated that athletes must wear masks during all of their games and practices, a sharp contrast to the fall season.
Moreau agrees with Smith about how much these rules have affected her love of the game, saying “Not really. I mean, at the beginning it was hard to put our masks on after sprints.” Unlike Smith, however, she thinks that “wearing masks while we warm up is unnecessary, and so is not being able to be at the field unless there is a coach.” She also offers her take on next fall’s field hockey season, when Emma will be a junior. “I have no idea. Depending on COVID it will be the same as this year, but I feel like COVID won’t be as bad.”
Emma is also a returning player on the PRHS girls’ basketball team. I asked her how she’s feeling going into the winter season, and she said, “I don’t think we’re gonna have it...field hockey is outside with minimal contact, while basketball is inside and you obviously have to pass the ball with your hands.”
Out of curiosity, I asked her how likely she thinks it is that basketball is going to be played (on a scale from one to ten, ten being very likely, one being not likely at all) and she answered with a resigned “one”. But, ever the optimist, she adds, “I’m worried that we’re not gonna have it, but I’m also a little bit happy because it’s a good opportunity for me to try something new.”
Lastly, I interviewed Lisha Powell, a talented student-athlete on the cross-country team. She describes the changes to her practices and meets: “In practice we wear masks whenever we aren’t running. We also stay six feet apart, sanitize at the beginning and end of practice, and answer questions to make sure we don’t have symptoms of COVID-19. We only have meets with one other school. We also social distance on the starting line, wearing our masks right up until we start running. For qualifiers, it’s only the top seven runners for each team. No other people can attend (parents or team members)”
She says she feels “pretty much the same about cross-country [since the regulations] because we can still practice like normal...but qualifying is a lot harder.” Powell believes that these restrictions for cross-country are “pretty reasonable.” She’s not very optimistic about next season, saying “I’m guessing there will be some precautions, like no big meets maybe? Or there won’t be many of them. Depending on several factors, we’ll probably have to wear masks or social distance.”
Powell is also a winter athlete, on the PRHS indoor track team. I asked her some questions too, starting with how she thinks the season will be different this year. “Well, it might not happen, but if it does, we’ll probably have to wear masks while we’re inside. There will probably be small meets (or none.) ” I gave her the same scale as Moreau and asked her guess as to the likelihood of indoor track running this winter. “I think the likelihood is like a 2 or a 3 because indoor track meets are always big and crowded.” Then I ask her how she’s feeling going into the season: “I don’t really love indoor track to begin with, and the idea of such close contact worries me.”
If Androscoggin County’s risk color changes remains yellow, it may eliminate winter and spring athletes’ hopes for competitive seasons. If that is the case, that would make two seasons lost for spring sports, greatly affecting everyone, especially the seniors who lost last season too.
From all athletes, we ask that you please wear a mask and be careful. If you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for us, high school athletes who just want to play the games we love.