Riverdale’s Athletic Director Provides an Update on the Spring Sports Season
On February 22nd, Mr. John Pizzi, Director of Athletics at Riverdale, held a Zoom meeting for Riverdale’s student-athletes. The intention of the call was to inform these students that there will be no competitions in the upcoming spring season, nor will there be a second fall season or an extended winter season, as previously suggested. This news came as a result of a decision made by the Ivy Preparatory School League, in addition to several Zoom conferences held within Riverdale’s own athletic staff.
Mr. Pizzi presented this athletics update via Zoom because, as he said, “last spring, there were a lot of emails about cancellations, and there was no face or emotion behind th[em].” He added that “students have gotten a lot of information by email, and I really wanted to do it as close to in-person as possible...I wish I could have done it in the gym with all of [the students] sitting there, but I [couldn’t], so Zoom was the next best option.”
Although all athletes would prefer a return to normalcy, this long-anticipated, in-person spring season will surely be an improvement from the previous fall and winter seasons. Mr. Pizzi elaborates, “We’ve learned a ton in the fall and the winter about how to do socially-distanced Covid-19 practices, and our hope is to put some policies in place where students will eventually get to share some equipment.” Mr. Pizzi notes that while the spring season may begin at the same stage as the fall and winter seasons, his “hope is that as the positivity rate continues to decline, we will get to a more normal-looking practice.” Unfortunately, he does not “really see the possibility of scrimmages.”
Luckily for members of the girls’ and boys’ varsity golf teams, their sport is naturally socially-distanced, so their practices will not be significantly modified. On the other hand, members of the varsity crew team are physically unable to distance themselves inside the boats so their practices will consist of individual erging with Riverdale’s machines. As for other sports like baseball, softball, and lacrosse, Riverdale has put several protocols in place for the sharing of equipment. In girls’ lacrosse, for example, Riverdale guidelines will require players to wear gloves in order to prevent exposed skin from being in contact with the ball. This will hopefully reduce possible transmission of Covid-19.
Dean of the RCS Class of 2021 and head girls’ varsity lacrosse coach Ms. Carol Pouliot notes that these protocols will “restrict, in some manners, the intensity of the training.” However, Dean Pouliot aims to find silver linings in her team's season. She explains, “Do we dwell on disappointment or do we move forward and relish the things that we cherish? I think we’ll try to focus on what we relish out of being together as opposed to dwelling on what we are losing. We’re going to work creatively to make it a special time.” Although there will be no spring training programs this year, and girls’ varsity lacrosse will be missing out on their annual trip to Hilton Head in South Carolina, Dean Pouliot hopes “that the spirit of girls’ varsity lacrosse and the ability to be together outdoors in a modified experience will still give us the fun interactions and competitive skill building that we love to do.”
While senior Helena McHugh, co-captain of girls’ varsity softball, is disappointed with the loss of yet another spring season, she, like Dean Pouliot, chooses to recognize the positive aspects that come with a modified season. “Team workouts and learning the sport more on Zoom are really helpful for self-improvement and mentally knowing the game and the sport,” explains McHugh. “It's just going to have to be another year of individual growth.”
Mr. Pizzi concludes, “We’re going to do everything we can to make this a really fantastic spring.” He would like “every student in [the athletics] program to know that [his] heart aches for them, and [that he is] here if they want to talk.” At some point in the spring, Mr. Pizzi plans to celebrate and highlight all senior athletes, especially those who participate in spring sports and have lost two full competitive seasons.
