Looking Six Months Back

This article is part of a series of articles that were written last school year but were never published due to the pandemic. The Norse Code has decided to publish these articles to give insight into how people were feeling at that time.

2020 has been a disaster starting with the fires in Australia, to Kobe Bryant, and now a global pandemic. The coronavirus has already taken away the final few months of school from seniors and maybe their spring sports seasons as well. Due to the safer at home movement and an overall ban of large gatherings, spring sports could be in serious trouble. Things are looking grim but there is a possibility that sports do come back. In this difficult time when nobody really knows what’s going on and what’s going to happen the only thing people can do is stay home, social distance, and hope this is all over with soon. 

Governor Evers put out a statement the other day closing all schools through the remainder of the school year. This is hard news to hear for a lot of seniors because there is no other experience similar to this and there may never be anything like this again. The news about schools being cancelled is hard news for any senior because of the final memories everyone was looking forward to making, and the people seniors saw everyday they may never see again besides the closer friends they all have. Everything once known to be the regular day to day will never be known again and although this was inevitable, it all happened so fast and, in a blink of an eye, a long chapter of so many kids’ lives is complete and they never had a chance to say goodbye. 

Many seniors were looking forward to their senior seasons and making those last memories on the field with their teammates and now that opportunity could be gone. Anyone who plays sports knows that it is more than just a game. The lessons learned from our coaches are lessons that are hard to learn in other places. The life skills formed through sports is something that is overlooked, and most importantly, to a lot of student athletes they make so many friends through sports. Some athletes have played alongside their best friends throughout all of high school and all they wanted was to take the field with them one last time before heading off to college. There is nothing like senior night and the recognition the seniors receive after four long years of hard work and dedication not only to their sport but to their academics. Every senior has worked so hard these last few years and to nobody’s fault, it could all be over just like that. 

“This is a group I am really devastated for. There’s a lot of memories to be made during your senior season and it’s heartbreaking to think of all the milestones and memories being missed by the 2020 class,” said New Berlin West Athletic Director Jordan Napoli.

Many people who know senior athletes feel bad for them, but there is nothing that can be done as of now and that is so heartbreaking not only to the athletes but to the parents and coaches of these senior athletes. 

“We’re trying our best to find alternative plans, be creative, and find ways to honor our seniors but also recognize that nothing can mimic the opportunities being lost,” said Napoli.

New Berlin West and Napoli will do everything in their power to find another way for us seniors to play this year. Although not much can be done and nothing is for sure yet I am confident Napoli will find a way for us to play again in an NBW uniform. 

The WIAA has recently announced that they are canceling every spring sport season for this year. This is breaking news that many saw coming but the news being official is surreal to every senior across the country. So many athletes were patiently waiting for the return of their sport for one last time in high school and now they can’t even take the field with their friends one more time. For a lot of student athletes this would’ve been the last season they play their sport at all, the lucky ones get to play in college but for the majority that don’t play after high school this is terrible. The worst part is nothing can be done as America is still struggling to fight the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Although we weren’t hit extremely hard with corona cases, it was definitely a smart move to not let us play,” said senior, Matt Hansen.

New Berlin was not a city that had an overwhelming amount of cases but it was going to be too hard to allow sports seasons with all the travel involved and the big meets that are essential to the sports seasons.  

“I have so many fond memories and made so many friends during sports… they helped me become the person I am today and gave me a future,” said Hansen.

“Sharing the field with my friends was my fun, and never doing that is what got me,” said senior, Joey DiMotto.

Sports bring people together and anyone that has ever played sports knows it is so much more than a game. No matter the sport and no matter where someone plays a sport there will always be friends to make and memories to make. At the end of the day everyone wants to win but there is nothing like competing hard for the entire game and then when it’s all over everyone comes together. Teams come together for a handshake and it’s all about sportsmanship. That’s what high school sports are all about and with seasons being canceled, seniors everywhere won’t get one last year to play alongside their friends and experience the sport they fell in love with.

“Sports was my happy place. With everything going on with academics and work, football and baseball was an area with limited stress, it helped clear my head by doing the things I loved most,” said DiMotto.

Sports is a thing people go to when they need a break from their fast paced lives and responsibilities. People find peace in playing sports even when it can seem intense and brutal. People feel this way because when they are on the field and they’re locked in, there is no other feeling like that. Sports has a special way of making everyone feel involved from the players on the field to the people and in the stands and the people watching at home. In the end, sports don’t mean a whole lot other than the outcome and which team won and that is what allowed sports to grow to the level they are today, sports are like a different world. Things seem so boring now because the population doesn’t have sports to fall back to when they need sports the most.