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Partly Cloudy East Rockaway athletic director says students 'saddened,' but understand spring sports cancelation
East Rockaway School District Athletic Director David Barth said that even though it was sad to see the spring sports season canceled, he understood why officials made the difficult decision.
“While our student-athletes are, of course, deeply saddened by the cancelation of the spring sports season, we all also understand that it is a decision that was made with everyone's health and best interests in mind,” he said.
Any hopes for even a modified season were dashed April 21 when health and safety concerns led athletic administrators and school superintendents in Nassau and Suffolk counties to announce the cancelation of the spring sports season.
“For the safety for our student-athletes, Section VIII has made the difficult decision to cancel spring sports for our high schools and middle schools,” Nassau County Executive Director Pat Pizzarelli said. “Long Island is one of the areas most affected by this terrible pandemic so both Section VIII (Nassau) and Section XI (Suffolk) have made this very difficult decision.”
Administrators in Nassau and Suffolk met over a 24-hour span beginning April 20 and felt it was important to react sooner as opposed to later. Even if public schools reopen, no sporting events will be held. A week earlier, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended New York state’s stay-at-home policies through May 15, meaning that school buildings will be closed until at least that date.
“It’s very sad for the seniors but we are dealing with life and death,” Pizzarelli said. “We have to safeguard our students and communities. We waited as long as we possibly could to make this heartbreaking decision.”
Nassau County’s Athletic Council, which includes superintendents, principals and officials, met the night of April 20 and was unanimous in its decision. Athletic Directors met the following morning and were in total agreement.
