This year, all fall sports in the Atlantic East Conference have been canceled due to COVID (or at least postponed). This has a large effect on all student-athletes at Cabrini. Whether you’re an incoming freshman ready to play your first college season, or a senior ready to play your last, this situation undeniably affects each one of us.
We’ll start off with the decision to cancel the fall seasons. Honestly, I was somewhat expecting this to happen before it was announced. Due to the current situation, it’s not that surprising. I’m sure that the decision to cancel was a tough one. Of course, we all want to see our athletes compete and win in their respective sports, but we also have to balance that with keeping each student and their families safe. So while I am disappointed that we will not be having a fall golf season, I understand the reasoning behind it.
Believe me, I wish I could be working with my teammates to claim some more tournament wins. However, at the same time, I wouldn’t want to put them or their families in danger of getting sick. We don’t have much of a choice here. These are the cards we’ve been dealt. Our next step has to be making the most of this scenario. If we want to succeed, we must.
I’m sure many other athletes share this sentiment- that we cannot use this situation as an excuse to slowly watch our skills deteriorate, but as a drive to improve and seize whatever opportunities we have left in our athletic careers. I for one plan on bringing my game to a whole new level this year. If people from other schools’ teams want to use the lack of a fall season as a reason to take a break-let them. I wouldn’t mind another AEC championship. As for those of them who are still working hard, I don’t feel like falling behind and getting blindsided in the spring by players who put in double the effort to practice that we did. This cannot be an excuse. It must be a motivator.
We can’t worry about the season that “should” have been. The only productive thing we can do now is focus on the future. I believe that even though this affects every athlete at Cabrini, there still lies an opportunity in all of this. It’s kind of the same as life. Even when it’s not so great, there’s still something good to be found. I feel the good in this is in the form of a motivator- and a renewed fire to get better and to win.