Some sports teams will celebrate senior night over Zoom, others postponed plans

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Macy Beal

Lab students line up during the baseball team’s senior night in 2019.

Julian Ingersoll, Arts Co-Editor

Two spring sports teams have decided to celebrate senior night with Zoom meetings, while two others have postponed plans until the summer when stay-at-home restrictions have been lifted and events can be held in person.

For years athletes have come together with their teammates to celebrate the work that the seniors have put in before they leave U-High. These celebrations usually entail snacks, drinks, balloons and small speeches prepared by juniors and sophomores to commemorate the bonds that have been built within the sports team. 

Because of the school closure, most of these seniors will not experience the same celebrations as the seniors before them, but coaches and teammates do not want this to be the case for the Class of 2020. 

Despite the challenges, girls soccer and track and field teams will hold senior night meetings over Zoom. These meetings will consist of the same traditions held in the senior nights before them, like the speeches and words of gratitude and recognition that senior night is about. A lot of players on these sports teams really don’t know what to expect from these Zoom meetings.

“I think that because it’s virtual, there will be a lot less people, so that could either make it more intimate and meaningful or just  a little bit disappointing for the players,” said senior Grace Brady, a varsity soccer player.

The tennis and baseball teams are going to try and wait out the social distancing order and see if they can meet in person later in the summer. 

“Another Zoom meeting, or video, we don’t think will properly convey how grateful we are to our seniors for the four years of work they put in,” baseball head coach Luke Zavala said. “We’re hopeful we’ll still be able to do something similar later in the summer, once the stay-at-home order has been lifted.” 

The reason why coaches and juniors are thinking of this alternative is because they don’t believe that a Zoom call is enough to show the gratitude they deserve after being active in their sport for participating in the sport in past years. Nonetheless, these plans are still up in the air and these sports will still hold Zoom calls just in case the stay at home order lasts longer than expected. 

“Though I’m super disappointed that there was no season this year,” said senior Charlie McGowan, varsity tennis player. “I’m still happy that we’re still being appreciated by our teammates. It means a lot.”