by Anthony Sorbellini
(Pictured above, right)
Sports Multi-Media Journalist
With the recent implications from COVID-19, the NCAA has decided to cancel all remaining Winter tournaments as well as suspending Spring sports. Given the current state of college athletics, many fans are associating with basketball and football. But what about the college seniors whose careers were effectively cut short?
Student-athletes know they are playing with limited time. Unless they are being scouted by professional scouts, a majority of players know their time is up after their final game. With the abrupt halt of the season, many Seniors effectively played their final game before their regular season even ended.
Look at it from this perspective: if I’m a college Senior and I’m not getting looked at by scouts for the professional level, I have the entire season to learn how to cope with the season ending. These students didn’t have that chance. I have seen all over social media the heartfelt, sincere, and heart-breaking posts of student-athletes saying goodbye to the game they have known since they were children: “This isn’t the way I imagined it would end” and “I don’t know how to move on from the game I’ve known since I was in Little League.”
There is no Senior Day. These athletes won’t have the chance to be honored the way they should be. Part of the allure of being a Senior is to go out and enjoy being the “face” of the team. You’ve been there the longest, you know what it takes, you’ve been there. Everything was taken away from you.
There have been talks and reports coming in the recent hours that the NCAA is looking into giving another year of eligibility to the Spring sports. But who is to say that these students would return? While it’s a good idea in theory, you have to think it through. These student-athletes are preparing for their life outside of sports -- they’re prepping for their professional careers. If they secure a job pre-graduation or even a few weeks post, they most likely won’t return to play. Or if they do return to play, how will that play out?
To be an athlete for the NCAA, you must be enrolled in six credit hours. What are the returning students going to enroll in if they already received their degree? Do they enroll in a graduate program? There are many implications which the student athletes and NCAA have to look at for this to work out. It’s unfortunate that this had to happen, and my heart goes out to all the Seniors. With the rules and regulations that the NCAA has set forth, there seems to be no way for this to be a win-win turnout for anyone involved.
