West Windsor Plainsboro School District Cancels All Fall Sports

I started cheerleading in 8th grade and I enjoyed it. very much. I started dancing at age 3 and didn't take interest in cheerleading until middle school. Once I started, it was something I had to do every season. I cheered for football and wrestling in high school and I cheered for the basketball team at Rider University when I attended school there. Cheerleading was something that I kept on loving even after my performance career was over. I loved it so much, I coached cheerleading at Piscataway High School for four years. I resigned after I had my son Nathan, to make more time for him. Those four years were very special to me and they're times I will never forget. High school sports are something that people take very seriously these days. Whether you're a kid trying to get a scholarship or a parent trying to make sure your child succeeds, it can get intense, especially if a child has worked hard for four years. Many high schools sports, are in jeopardy right now due to the coronavirus pandemic and school districts one by one are started to cancel their fall sports programs due to safety concerns.

NJ.com reports West Windsor Plainsboro School District has canceled all fall sports for this year. They've even canceled the season for the marching band as well. There are so many risks when it comes to allowing schools to reopen at full capacity in the fall and the same goes for fall sports. Being a former high school coach, I know how much contact kids have with each other during practice. They share equipment, water bottles and even clothes sometimes. Whenever my cheerleaders would do their stunts, they were all up in each other's personal spaces. I know if I was still coaching, I'd be nervous about my cheerleaders possibly contracting coronavirus.

Superintendent Dr. David Aderhold of the West Windsor Plainsboro school district knows there is a huge threat to students and spectators if athletics happen in the fall according to NJ.com. In the same article he also talked about the amount of money that was spent on preventative measures to have students safely return to school, has resulted in the loss of state aid for things like sports. The cost for preventative measures for sports will be too high.

The NJSIAA, released updated guidelines on July 30th for summer workouts when it came to fall sports. These are the guidelines according to Governor Murphy. High Schools must follow these guidelines, and fall sports are allowed to officially begin on October 1st. However, some schools like West Windsor Plainsboro and even the Carteret Public School District have decided to do away with the season altogether.

I know this may be devastating to seniors who were wishing to obtain athletic college scholarships, but there are other options like video reels to show off athletic skills. I would assume colleges have to be understanding about the cancelation of fall sports due to the pandemic. In my personal opinion, we need to do everything we can to get this virus out of here so that we can finally return to doing the things we love.