As with all aspects of education, everything changed for school sports when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. While some sports came back to local school districts over the winter, a month-long abbreviated “Fall 2” season just wrapped up. How did it go and how will schools adapt lessons learned as the spring sports season gets underway?
Kingston School District
Rich Silverstein is the director of physical education, health and athletics in the Kingston City School District, the largest district by a great margin in the county. Kingston High returned most of its fall sports at the varsity level in April, and fewer in JV. Silverstein said that as the winter season gave way to the rescheduled fall, he began worrying more.
“Winter season I was nervous, eight teams and I did not sleep well at night all winter,” Silverstein said. “Fall 2 season arrived March 1 and I was now running 18 teams. My stomach hurt our first few days hoping I did not forget to make a site safe enough, provided enough PPE or gave our coaches the tools they needed to keep our athletes safe. As we wrap up the Fall 2 season this weekend, I can honestly say, whew! We did it. Only a handful of teams had to go into ten-day quarantine, a number of games had to be either cancelled or changed due to contact tracing issues, but we did it safely.”
Silverstein added that it was worth it to see how much it meant to student athletes in the district to be able to compete.
“To see the smiles of our athletes that first week in March playing the sports they love, to see our coaches back on the courts and fields teaching and coaching their beloved sports, to see parents sitting in the bleachers watching again, I was so thrilled to be able to offer this to all of them,” Silverstein said.
With the spring season officially underway as of Monday, April 19, Kingston will increase its offerings to allow varsity, JV and modified teams to participate. Their games schedule begins a week later when the girls’ golf team takes on league opponent Middletown at Wiltwyck. Boys’ golf, boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, baseball, softball, boys’ tennis, track and field are also offered in Kingston for spring.
“I met with my 38 coaches for our 22 spring teams and we are ready,” Silverstein said. “All of our venues have been roped off now allowing for social distancing, temp check-in locations for our athletes and spectators, safe for all participants. Coaches have been trained, spectator passes (two per athlete) have been given out, fields are now lined for spring rather than fall sports and I am excited to greet almost 600 athletes Monday on our first day of spring sports during a pandemic.”
Saugerties School District
The Saugerties Central School District offered a more modest run of Fall 2 sports than Kingston, with varsity boys’ and girls’ soccer, girls’ tennis and cross country only. Football and volleyball, which some other schools offered locally, were deemed by Saugerties to be too risky.
“We were fortunate and did not have to shut down any of our programs due to Covid,” said Dominic Zarrella, athletic director in Saugerties. “Overall, I was impressed with the enthusiasm and it was great to see students playing and competing. I did feel bad that we couldn’t offer volleyball and football, but the decision was based on safety and if you look at other districts, those sports proved to be problematic.”
Zarrella said the primary lesson learned during the Fall 2 season was a need to stick to the protocols.
“We learned that if you strictly adhere to the safety protocols, you can have success,” Zarrella said.
Like Kingston, Saugerties is increasing its offerings for spring, with all sports and all levels available as they would have been in a non-pandemic year.
“We should have between 300- 400 students competing,” Zarrella said. “My concerns are storage of equipment and lack of locker room use. I think we will be okay. They are also planning on having sectional play this spring, which is an added benefit. The student-athletes were excited during Fall 2 and really excited to get going next week.”
After the varsity and JV softball teams host scrimmages against Pine Plains on Monday, April 26, the games begin for real the following day, with boys’ golf, boys’ tennis, girls’ lacrosse and track and field all underway.
Onteora School District
Kimberly Pilla is the director of physical education, athletics and health in the Onteora Central School District. Like her counterparts in other districts, Pilla said she thought the Fall 2 season was a success.
“We had an overall successful Fall 2 season as safety and participation took priority over wins and losses,” Pilla said. “I am extremely proud of our student-athletes as they demonstrated patience, resiliency and compliance while adjusting to the many protocols and expectations necessary for athletic participation. Our entire athletic staff, as well as the many district stakeholders and parents, shared in the responsibility which enabled our student-athletes to safely and successfully get back on the playing fields…Our student-athletes were thrilled to be back playing sports again, especially our seniors.”
Pilla said one of the biggest lessons learned during Fall 2 was the need for flexibility.
“Change, adjustments and more change became the everyday norm throughout the season,” Pilla said. “We realized quickly that our ability to be flexible and make last-minute adjustments were necessary and a large part of executing a successful program. We are fully prepared for more of the same this spring season.”
On Monday, April 26, boys’ and girls’ golf open the spring slate for Onteora, with the former hosting Ellenville and the latter traveling to Red Hook. Boys’ tennis and track and field return the next day, with both baseball and softball back on Monday, May 3.
New Paltz School District
Gregory Warren, director of health, physical education and athletics in the New Paltz Central School District, could not be reached for comment. New Paltz opens its spring season with boys’ and girls’ golf on Monday, April 26. The girls play Ellenville at Shawangunk Country Club, while the boys play Marlboro at the New Paltz Golf Course. Track and field, boys’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, baseball and softball are also part of the Huguenots’ spring sports slate, with varsity, JV and modified levels where applicable.
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