The fields and the courts are still silent.

Athletes are still cooped up in their homes.

Colorado high school sports has had to deal with something that hasn’t been seen for a 100 years.  Due to the fast spreading novel coronavirus, the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) had no choice but to cancel all spring sports.

            This was not taken lightly with students who were planning on using this season to help them get scholarships in order to compete at a higher level or have a great senior year and further craft their game before playing collegiately.

This was many students’ opportunity to prove what they could do on the field, court, and track. Baseball player Jake Frieder ’21 said, “Junior and senior year are the years to show colleges what you have to offer, and potentially being unable to play this year could definitely impact myself along with many of my teammates who are looking to play in college.”

With Colorado being a premier state for high school athletics, scouts from all over the country come to see what our state has to offer. Without any athletics and reduced travel, rising freshman and sophomore students, who are getting their first taste of varsity and junior varsity, are left out to dry.

Their chance to place themselves on the scouts’ radar has been erased, making their chances of showing what they could do from little to zero.

This has been a difficult pill to swallow for athletes like track star Diego Turner ’21. “New colleges have stopped contacting me about going to their school for track,” he said.

With the number of scholarships and opportunities to play in college thinning, a vast amount of students are being left to ask themselves questions on what their plan is after high school.

For many athletes, the games mean more than just a chance to go to college. Rugby player Jayce Neuse simply misses the camaraderie of being on the field. “I’m just sad that I might not get to play with my teammates again,” he said. “We had our last practice without realizing it was our last practice.”

It might be cliché, but you can’t take for granted those four years of growing up and bonding with each other. Those hours upon hours of practice and games all leading to one thing. One season. One game. The last time they can ever play with one another. Thrown out of the window. 

“I think everybody is pretty disappointed, especially because of all the work we put in. Just for the season to be cancelled,” Neuse said.