The coronavirus ended many college sport’s seasons and now rumors of fall sports being canceled as well have students worried.
Sports at the college level are an opportunity for students to show off their skills in hopes of going pro. Now, this opportunity is gone.
Ryan Mettin, a 28-year-old from Ottsville said, “For the vast majority of players, this will be their only chance to play organized sports at a competitive level. Fans will always get more season’s in the future, but players have been robbed of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.”
“It’s absolutely devastating. Especially for our seniors who didn’t know they had their last practice before they left for spring break,” Vincent Poligano, a 20-year-old college student from Ottsville pa, who runs track.
There’s big talk about the baseball season, along with other sports seasons, being canceled due to the virus. Although, William Carlson, a 49-year-old from Chalfont believes there may be “a little drop off in viewership and ticket sales when they begin playing again, but not a huge impact.”
“This will have huge ripple effects in the sports world. From college to pros, nothing like this has ever happened before” says Ryan Mettin.
The cancelation of professional sports has many fans devastated.
“I am a little bummed without baseball. Always a part of the summer months,” said Carlson.
However, since this virus is considered a pandemic due to the rate at which it spreads canceling sports was a necessity.
“Packing 40+ thousand people in a stadium during a pandemic is a terrible idea,” said Mettin.
“The “novel” nature of the virus means that no precaution is too much” added Poligano
But what does this mean for college athletes who used their sport as a way to release anxiety?
“While we aren’t with our team’s every day, we are still (trying to) workout just as much! It’s given me a chance to reflect on what got me into my sport and why I love it,” said Poligano.
“This could affect them for sure, but they will have to find other ways to cope. Maybe find something else or another outlet they didn’t think of before,” said Carlson.
Will this affect fans and athletes mentally?
Sports have the ability to bring people together, despite everything that is happening. Athletes and fans are longing for the future when all of this is over, and when they can play/watch their beloved sports again.
Poligano said that once the world returns to normal that he and his teammates, “will never take any competition for granted again.”