Spring sports officially canceled

Posted 5/6/20

Greg Osterhout called it one of the top 5 most heartbreaking moments of his life when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that the state’s schools will remain closed for the rest of the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Spring sports officially canceled

Posted

Greg Osterhout called it one of the top 5 most heartbreaking moments of his life when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that the state’s schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.
The announcement resulted in the cancellation of the spring 2020 sports season.

“I’ve been playing baseball my whole life,” said Osterhout a Valley Central senior. “I really wanted to do something with my team this year. Not just baseball. I was looking forward to prom and graduation. Those are the most fun activities and now they’re gone.”

Section 9 officials had previously said school needed to be back in session by May 18 for there to be any kind of spring season.

New York State Public High School Athletic Association Executive Director Robert Zayas had continuously said the season could not start unless students were back in the physical school building.

Sections 8 and 11 had canceled their spring season on April 21.

“I would like to commend the work of the 11 NYSPHSAA section executive directors who have worked tirelessly to benefit the students in their sections. Many throughout our state were hopeful students that would have been able to participate in school athletics this spring and return to some normalcy,” Zayas said in a statement.

NYSPHSAA President Paul Harrica began selecting members to serve on an ad hoc committee to address and analyze the effects COVID-19 could possibly have on the fall 2020 interscholastic athletic season. It will consist of school and district superintendents, principals, athletic directors, section athletic directors and NYSPHSAA officials.

It was always a possibility the season would be canceled when things were shut down in mid-March, but that didn’t make Friday’s announcement any easier.

“It’s still really hard,” Osterhout said. “I was hoping we could at least get in a couple of games or something.”