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Feb. 26—HAVERHILL — When it comes to the Fall 2 sports season at Whittier Regional High School, Superintendent Maureen Lynch says all student-athletes are being benched for the sake of equity.
Lynch called off the school’s season despite play being approved by the MIAA state high school sports organization. She cited snow on the school’s turf field and the $2,000 it would cost to remove it among the reasons for her decision.
Students showed up Wednesday after school — shovels in hand — intent on clearing the snow. The group of 30 to 40 football, soccer and volleyball players and cheerleaders, however, weren’t able to get beyond the school’s front gate and past Haverhill police Officer Ryan Connolly, Whittier Regional’s school resource officer.
In the wake of the students’ display, Lynch said equity is another reason why Fall 2 sports are not happening.
“In order to have an equitable sports season, we would be tasked with providing locations and time for practices and games, resources which we do not have,” the superintendent said in a statement provided to The Eagle-Tribune Thursday afternoon. “If we can’t offer a sports season to all Fall II athletes, we’re not having one at all because it simply wouldn’t be equitable.”
During a Feb. 10 Whittier School Committee meeting, Lynch said that administrators decided to call off the sports season primarily because of the health and well-being of the school community amid the pandemic. In addition, due to social distancing requirements, students now eat lunch in the gym instead of it being used as a practice space for sports teams.
The School Committee did not take a vote on whether or not to keep or cancel the sports season, angering both student-athletes and their families.
“(Football Coach and Athletic Director Kevin) Bradley wants us to play, but the superintendent is the one we’re trying to win over,” senior linebacker Nick Allen said at Wednesday’s demonstration outside the school. “For me, I just want my senior (night) game. I want to play at least one game with my friends.”
Lynch, however, said there are simply too many barriers to a season.
“We are further limited by the amount of space physically available to us to hold a Fall II sports season,” she said in her statement released Thursday. “In a normal fall sports season at the beginning of the school year, we have several fields available to us to hold practices and games. We simply don’t have the same level of access to those resources during the winter months because of snow, ice and other factors.”
The superintendent previously told The Eagle-Tribune that administrators’ decision was “never about shoveling and/or plowing the one turf field.”
Lynch said four fields are in use during a regular fall season, and other fields are rendered unusable given the winter weather conditions. She also cited transportation as a barrier.
“All of our practices and games have to be right after school because our students come from 11 cities and towns,” she said.
Students upset with the decision wore face masks displaying the words “let us play!” at the school Thursday.
“We did the best we could,” said senior Mack Fieldhouse of Wednesday’s public display, which he attended along with fellow football captains Nolan Mann and Colby Laursen-Rice. “We aren’t giving up.”
Lynch, too, is undeterred in her optimism — that students will soon return back to school full-time. She isn’t, however, willing to say if a spring sports season is on the horizon.
“We are hopeful, should COVID-19 case numbers stay down… that we may be able to offer a spring sports season,” she said. “My heart truly goes out to our student-athletes — it is not lost on any of us how unfortunate these circumstances are.”
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