PERRYSBURG, Ohio — The OHSAA announced on Thursday that no decision has been made about completing winter sports finals, but that a decision would be made in the next 24 or 48 hours.
As for spring sports, they’re in limbo as well. The decisions affect so many, but especially seniors getting ready for their final season.
Seniors like Cole Hamby at Perrysburg High School. They’ve worked so hard for their last year, but right now they just don’t know what is next. For now, they continue to work on their own to stay ready.
“It’s hard because we’ve been in and out since January, six, seven days a week, doing three-hour practices getting ready for this,” said Hamby. “We’re ready to take on the NLL and it’s just hard. It breaks your heart. Most of us have played travel baseball for 11, 12 years, and it’s hard to just see it go like that. We’re just trying to keep it in our lives and pretend like what’s going on in the world isn’t going on.”
OHSAA executive director Jerry Snodgrass understands the balance here and his decisions impact so many families across Ohio.
“Athletics will come back, school athletics will come back,” said Snodgrass. “Now, more than ever, we need to be unified from our schools and from our coaches to get them back. It will emphasize the good things in high school sports, and I think that’s something that will rise out of this.”
At Perrysburg, Dave Hall is getting ready for his 42nd year as a high school coach. He’s hoping they will be patient and wait as long as possible to make a decision on spring sports.
“There are a lot of things that go in to it,” said Hall. “I think Jerry is doing a great job. Knowing Jerry as well as I do, I’ve known him for a long time, he will be very slow in making a decision to pull it. I trust him as much as anybody, as far as doing what’s right for kids. I think he’ll hold as long as he can, and that’s all we can ask for.”
Snodgrass did acknowledge that he doesn’t love the idea of extending spring sports in to the summer months, but as he’s said all along, everything is on the table.