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The news there would be no fall state championships in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association is something Stillwater girls’ soccer coach Christine Ihnatolya had time to digest. Monday, one week away from the start of fall practices in Section II, the Wasaren League has decided to shift all fall sports offerings into Fall Season II, a time period beginning March 1 that was established for higher-risk sports as part of the ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I remember hearing about (no state championships) and feeling upset and then thinking, ‘OK’,” said Ihnatolya, the Times Union’s 2019-20 Coach of the Year after guiding the Warriors to their second straight Class C girls’ soccer state title in November. “We were excited to be starting up Sept. 21. This is upsetting news to hear obviously for me, but much more so for the athletes. They have been looking forward to this for a long time. Some of them missed out on their spring season and summer leagues. They were getting so excited to start.”
The Western Athletic Conference has also shifted boys’ and girls’ soccer to Fall Season II on Monday, but will compete in low-risk sports during the fall season set to begin with practices Sept. 21.
Tom Husser, who holds the positions of Section II girls’ soccer coordinator, Hoosick Falls athletic director and girls’ soccer coach, echoed Ihnatolya’s sentiments.
“I don’t like it. I understand it, and we move on,” Husser said.
The 10 soccer programs in the Wasaren League and the 13 from the WAC join high-risk sports football and volleyball in competing from March through May in the newly devised Fall Season II format.
The weather in early March, coupled with there being just two turf fields in the Wasaren League and one in the WAC, could provide challenges for early-season games and practices. Most small schools only have one gym, meaning potential indoor practices for boys’ soccer and girls’ soccer would be competing for time along with football.
“It is the opposite of what we do in the fall: start out warm and then play in the freezing cold. Now, we’re starting in the freezing cold. I haven’t really thought about that yet,” Ihnatolya said. “Right now, I am just relaying the information to the athletes. As soon as I got the news (Monday), I immediately called Keelyn (Peacock, the team’s top returning senior star). I wanted to get to her first since she won’t be playing in March as she is graduating early. I told her that the time you have put in now isn’t wasted time. It has only made you stronger.”
Mental fortitude is an aspect of athletics that has always been important, perhaps now more than ever before as athletes around the state continue to deal with a great deal of uncertainty.
“You hope you get to play in March. Who knows with school budgets?” Husser said. “Some schools may say, ‘We’ll cancel fall and winter and concentrate on the spring of 2021.’ That is a possibility too. … There are so many ifs.”
“There are so many things out of our control,” Ihnatolya said. “We were a week away from starting. It is unfortunate, but I understand. Safety is very important.”
According to Husser, the Adirondack League will make its decision regarding fall sports on Wednesday. On Monday, Whitehall’s Board of Education voted to play no sports in the fall. If that league moves soccer to March, it will leave the Central Hudson Valley League, Colonial Council, Foothills Council, Patroon Conference and the Suburban Council set to start next week.
jallen@timesunion.com • @TUSidelines
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