Hope and heartache
Athletes react to cancelled fall season
Andres Villarreal, 2019 Team photo
August 31, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many changes worldwide to how everything ordinarily happens. As the norm has changed, so has sports at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The fall season has been cancelled for sports across the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and now athletes across Wisconsin will not be able to play the sports they all love. Athletes reacted with a mix of sadness and understanding.
“This season was going to be one of the best ones since I have been here and it is extremely sad because the seniors cannot play now,” said Men’s Soccer midfielder Andres Villarreal who had high expectations for the team this fall. “I’m for it getting cancelled though- there’s things bigger in the world than a season and it is more important for everyone to remain safe.”
Women’s Volleyball is another sport this fall that is having its season cut short. Like other cancelled sports, it has left a void for some that was never expected- especially for those who have been playing a sport since childhood.
“I was shocked and sad. Most of us have played volleyball since middle school and we always play volleyball in the fall, so not having a season this fall is a really weird adjustment,” said Women’s Volleyball defensive specialist Hailey Mackenthun. “I know COVID is a big deal and can be really bad for some people, so I wouldn’t want to put anyone in danger of getting it-though we are all college students at a Division III level and we all chose to play sports, even when we do not receive much scholarship money like bigger schools.”
Luckily not all athletes have to wait until next fall to resume their play. Women’s Tennis captain Paige Nierman gets the chance to play a spring season. Nierman, a senior, can now at least finish her Warhawk career playing the sport she loves, and has her sights set on now preparing for the spring season.
“I’m going to try to train and practice even harder for the spring season, as we are fortunate enough that our conference is getting moved to the spring now,” she said. “As a captain I had to make sure to tell my teammates we are going to make the best out of this fall season and we still get to practice.”
Sports at UW-Whitewater are going to be much different this year, but these athletes still plan to train hard and keep hope alive for whenever play will resume.
