‘Stay patient, stay healthy’
Published March 18, 2020
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The MIAA’s new tentative start date of April 27 for the spring sports season is hard news to process for student athletes and coaches.
Monday’s vote came just three full days after the MIAA had decided to push the start date to March 30. That’s a postponement of almost a full month in just 72 hours worth of new information regarding the Coronavirus pandemic in addition to Governor Charlie Baker’s order that all Massachusetts schools close until April 7.
As officials continue to monitor the situation, it’s only natural for student athletes to wonder if they will play at all this spring.
“First and foremost, my top concern is always the health and well-being of our students, our staff and their families,” said Brendan Kent, Wakefield Public Schools’ K-12 director of athletics, health and wellness. “I hope everyone that is a part of both our immediate and extended Wakefield Warrior family is staying healthy and doing well right now.
“These are definitely unprecedented times for all of us. If sports has taught us anything, it is that we need to be resilient in the face of adversity, we need to adapt to new challenges as they arise and we need to stick together as a family and community when times get tough and look out for each other.”
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow exponentially, student athletes need to shift their focus during a time that is typically spent working together with their teammates and coaches to prepare for the season.
Like much of the sporting world, Kent is sympathetic towards especially the senior class who can now only hope for a shortened season, but he implores the Warriors to look at the big picture.
“Until we have more accurate information on the status of the outbreak I think it is difficult to develop an informed opinion on the matter,” said Kent. “On the one hand, my heart breaks for all of our spring student-athletes who have worked their entire lives for the opportunity to wear a Wakefield Warrior uniform in a varsity game, playing the sport that they love.
“However, no matter how badly we want to see our kids out there on the playing fields, we need to do what is best for their own health and the health of everyone else around them.”
Kent says Wakefield’s administration will now wait for more information and decisions from the state house, department of public health, department of elementary and secondary education and the MIAA.
“The MIAA’s decision to postpone spring sports until April 27 buys them some more time to wait and see how this ongoing situation develops and unfolds. As more information come to light, they will make decisions that are in the best interest of the student-athletes. That information might come in a few days or it might come in a few weeks. Until that happens, we need to stay calm, stay patient, stay healthy and continue to stick together as a community/family and look out for each other.”
