Category: News

Fall Sports During Covid-19

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Fall Sports During Covid-19

By Maddie Olshemski ’23

 

2020 was anything but ordinary, and the fall sports season was no exception to this. Although the fall season looked a bit different than past years, Wyoming Seminary student-athletes made the season the best and safest that they could. Wyoming Seminary fall sports include Football, Field Hockey, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and Cross Country. The student-athletes on these teams persevered and made the year more memorable than any year before, despite the circumstances and obstacles the Covid-19 pandemic threw their way. 

This fall season was like no other. Adjustments had to be made to fit Covid- 19 protocols and ensure everybody participating was safe as possible to have a season. This means masking at all times, except when playing, and social distancing during water breaks, drills, on the benches, and during bus rides. At a glance, it could be seen as a challenge, but sophomore soccer defender, Aiden Gilbert, talked about in an interview how these protocols brought the Boys Team together. He explained, “[W]e knew that wearing masks was our best chance at being able to keep the season going, so we made sure to keep that in the back of our minds when we felt like taking them off. And although we couldn’t go too close to each other, we all had to go through the same problems, so we were able to relate with each other on a greater scale and become closer as a team.” The Boy’s Soccer Team then came together at the end of their season and finished with a win in the PIAA AA District Championship. 

The student-athletes were not the only ones who had to adapt and make adjustments this fall season. Coaches played a massive role in making sure all student-athletes had the best experience possible playing their sports. Head Field Hockey coach, Coach Karen Klassner, touched on some of the difficulties she and her 3-peat defending PIAA Class A State Championship Team faced. The main challenge she talked about was “[T]he uncertainty of current and future situations, and not knowing from day to day if it would be your last game.” This uncertainty was not just surrounding cases on each respective team but throughout the entire state. The season could have been cut short by several things, including cases within other SEM teams, within the SEM community, other school teams throughout the area, and cases throughout the state. Any of these factors could have ended the season for SEM athletic teams and teams in the entire conference and in the PIAA. But even with this uncertainty, Coach Klassner commended her team for pushing through, “…our team was great, they knew what they had to do and handled every situation knowing they were lucky to be playing.” The Field Hockey Team finished off an already memorable season with a win in the PIAA Class A State Championship, making them the only Pennsylvania team ever to win three State Titles in a row. An unbelievable feat in an even more unbelievable time. 

To play a sport during a pandemic with so much uncertainty where the sport you love can be taken away at any given moment is a challenge. However, every Wyoming Seminary fall sport student-athlete knew how lucky they were to play while making memories and connections that will be cherished. No student-athlete will ever forget the year they overcame uncertainty and adversity in a global pandemic while playing the sport they loved in the blue and white. 

Clubs are now able to meet in-person

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Clubs are now able to meet in-person

By Noam Wasik ‘21

 

Covid-19 has pushed clubs to meet over Zoom, but after a month of students following precaution rules, clubs are now being allowed to meet in-person. For decades, clubs have been meeting in-person. Clubs form an essential part of Sem’s culture, as well as the afternoon schedule of students. 

Zarah Chittalia ’21 is one SOCA leader, Students of Color Association, and is excited to see clubs meeting in-person. She says, “I think that having meetings in-person makes students more excited to go…Zoom just isn’t the same.” Zoom doesn’t give the same comfort students have with being in-person. Online meetings lessen the ability to see body language and when to add to the conversation. Chitallia adds, “meetings over Zoom are naturally less energized and more awkward for discussions. The energy is just different in-person.” 

Zoom meetings also do not allow for as much communication. Julianna Saltz ’21 is a leader of the SEM Female Empowerment Movement (SEMFEM). SEMFEM is a club, and much like SOCA, that integrates affinity spaces into their meetings. Saltz is excited clubs get to meet in person. She says, “I think it’s great because there is a certain level of communication you can’t reach when you’re online, especially in cases like affinity groups. In-person is just easier in general.”

The club leadership meetings have also been online. “It really does help when it comes to leadership meetings to be in one room figuring out our next step for our meeting,” Julianna states. 

Artisan Club, led by Jessie Miller ’22, is a club that focuses on providing art projects for the community. In regards to the ability to meet in-person, Miller states, “In-person is a lot more engaging because it allows us to work on the art projects we have been asked to do in the community.” In-person meetings allow clubs to resume projects they were unable to continue on Zoom.

While most students are on campus, there are still many that are virtual. When club meetings are held on Zoom, students from around the world can join. With meetings back on campus, virtual kids are being left out. “One negative is that we are leaving the virtual kids out,” Miller states. Virtual students are not only being left out in class but now club meetings too. 

Saltz has another worry. “I think the only negative is having to limit the number of people who come to the meeting, but it is necessary,” She worries meetings will not allow for the large outreach clubs want but acknowledges it is the best thing right now,” she mentions.

A large number of students are excited to see their clubs in-person finally. Dr. Penland, class dean of ’21, says, “I think there are a lot of positives about club meetings in person with social distancing and masking: social interaction, ability to show videos more easily, more honest discussions. Still, I think the current Covid safety concerns are serious too, and we need to be careful not to ignore the risks.” This may be the first action to make this year seem as normal and as familiar as possible. 

GoodKnight Great Hall: Covid Concerns

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GoodKnight Great Hall: Covid Concerns

By Cole Rees ‘21

 

Wyoming Seminary held the #1 ranked wrestling team in the nation last year. This year, the school has yet to open its training facility, the Great Hall, to the boys’ team. This is due to the lack of Covid regulations needed by either the National Federation of High School Associations or the National Prep Wrestling League.

Boys’ team usually had practiced in the Great Hall (Photo by Beau Bartlett ‘20)

Being unable to use the wrestling room on campus has made it difficult for the team to get much-needed training time. However, the coaching staff was able to find an off-campus training site that the team is currently using. Having to travel off-campus for practice is less than ideal for the team’s mostly boarding population. It has been doable in good weather, but the trip could begin to cause issues with the weather getting colder. With boarders not allowed in vehicles and the Great Hall still closed, they must walk to and from practice in upcoming frigid temperatures, rain, and snow. 

The team has remained cheerful and considerate through this process. Current Sem wrestler and border, Dylan Zenion ’23, stated, “Although it makes life a little harder, as long as we can wrestle, I’m okay with it. Although I hope we can get in Great Hall before the winter hits.” Teammate Andrew Donahue ’22 stated similar thoughts when asked how the process has affected him, “It’d be nice to be in Great Hall, I miss it. I understand the school’s thought process, but what’s the difference if we’re training off-campus or on? I feel [bad] for the boarders who have to walk in bad weather conditions.” 

Health should come to the mind of the Sem Administration when making decisions about opening Great Hall in the near future. Wrestlers typically leave practice soaked from sweat and extremely tired. If winter hits and if Great Hall is still closed borders will have to walk over a mile back to campus in icy temperatures while wet, causing health concerns.

Regarding the school’s Covid Regulations and the responsibility the wrestling team has to follow, Head Coach Scott Green stated, “It is a big responsibility for teens to bear, but it is the situation we are in. This type of pressure is part of the package when you belong to the best high school wrestling program in the country.” Efforts to open Great Hall back up for the boys are still underway.

Sem Boys Wrestling Team 2019-2020
(Photo by Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)