Many students who are involved in spring sports were eager to find out what their season held. There hasn’t been any new substantial information about their seasons.
Students were hoping that their season would be postponed and not cancelled.
“The IHSAA has not canceled the state tournaments in any of the Spring sports, so we are hopeful that we will be able to compete,” said athletic director Ben Bachmann.
Many people didn’t know who really had the final decision if there was a spring sports season. Bachmann explained how New Prairie staff members have no say in the decision.
“No New Prairie HS staff members have a say. It starts at the national level, followed by the state and then the NPUSC School Board and Dr. White. The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is our athletic governing body and ultimately will determine if we will have a state tournament,” said Bachmann.
Bachmann explained how if there was to be a sports season how it would work.
“With the unprecedented times, any decision regarding Spring sports starts at the national and state level. As of today (3/30) the Governor has closed Indiana schools until 5/1. As long as we have NPUSC approval with that potential academic start date, our student-athletes would need to get at least 5 days of practices in (per the IHSAA) so the earliest we could potentially restart events is 5/7,” said Bachmann.
Bachmann seemed hopeful to have a spring season, but explained that the season would definitely have to be shortened.
“Just how spring seasons will look is a big question mark right now for every HS across the country. The Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) has a meeting scheduled for 4/15 to discuss that topic. It will definitely have to be a shortened schedule due to the limited time before the IHSAA state tournaments. We hope to have a much clearer picture after that meeting,” said Bachmann.
The latest information about the season is posted on the athletic website.
“Any updates will continue to be posted on NPCougars.com. We are also trying to keep up content on the site so our supporters have something to look forward to,” said Bachmann.
Sadly, on Thursday April 2nd. Indiana’s governor announced that schools would be closed through the academic year. Since school was closed spring sports would also be cancelled.
Students were very upset hearing this news.
“I felt shocked and sad, because I was shocked about not getting to play baseball this spring. I was sad, because everyone worked so hard this offseason, and we won’t be able to show it on the field this year,” said sophomore baseball player Adin Newman.
This hurt every athlete in spring sports, but it especially affects the seniors. Since spring sports are cancelled many seniors won’t be able to play their last year.
“I feel bad for the seniors, because I have some friends on that team, and they all worked so hard to get where they're at now, and they also helped New Prairie Baseball where it is now throughout these 4 years,” said Newman.
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