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| An empty Walsh Softball Field at CHS in mint condition. |
With the announcement by Governor Baker on Tuesday that schools will remain closed and operate remotely for the remainder of the school/academic year, comes the sad reality that our 2020 Spring interscholastic athletic season will not take place. The following bullets provide some information around this decision.
- Today, the MIAA officially announced the cancelation of the spring season- regular and tournament. Click here for a press-release from the MIAA.
- We are currently working on how to best wrap up the 2019-20 Bulldog athletic year. Our coaches all care so much for their players and everyone wants to make sure the appropriate closure takes place, particularly for members of the class of 2020.
- We will soon be making information available on the awarding of varsity letters for the spring 2020 season.
- As we are in uncharted waters, please feel free to reach out to the CHS Athletics office with questions, thoughts, etc. during this time. I can be reached via email. ericksond@cantonma.org
A personal note from the AD
In looking back at a history of CHS Athletics, I am unable to find any instance of this ever happening in our past -- ever. My research is basic as I have checked out old CHS yearbooks, etc, but at least since the WWII era, I can find no time when our Bulldogs were unable to participate in a sport season. If anyone with a longer history than me can provide any evidence to the contrary, I will stand corrected. But for now, I assume that what our spring student athletes are experiencing, in losing their season, is completely unprecedented.
As a fellow Bulldog for my entire life, I know that I can speak for Bulldogs everywhere -- and from every era -- in saying that we are all with our Spring 2020 student athletes. We stand with you. We feel for you. We are in awe of your resilience. We can all TRY to empathize with you, but in reality, we can only imagine what it must be like to have one of your passions taken away from you.
Whenever asked, I have always said that the greatest lessons that high school sports can provide are around how we can handle setback and adversity. Well..game on. This group of hundreds of Bulldog student athletes have been dealt a major, unthinkable set-back -- the complete loss of one of their precious seasons of play. It is so difficult to see today, but this will ultimately be a defining moment. It will impact each and every one of you and forge who you are and will be. I would never wish this set-back on any of our Bulldogs, but this is the moment we are in. So in this moment, lean in on another value of sports -- TEAM. Although you and your teammates are apart -- in many ways -- you have never been closer, as you are all going through this together. The mark that our spring 2020 teams will leave behind at CHS will be powerful and profound. Your season that wasn't will certainly provide all future Bulldogs with an unshakable appreciation of what we have.
Thank you 2020 Spring Bulldogs.
