“Our school was excellent at being very transparent with parents about its academic reopening plans — it staged quite a few board meetings where parents could email in their concerns or questions,” said Sujatha Nigam, president of the Boys Soccer Booster Club. “But even as we got the approval from various agencies to go ahead with soccer and field hockey in our district, our school district made the decision without input from our parents to opt out of those sports.”

In addition to frustrations with what parents saw as a lack of transparency from the school district, they fear the school district, the only one in its athletic section to opt out of fall sports, will subsequently cancel a spring season for students, too.

Last week, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association released specifications for how member schools could proceed with fall sports under the restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic.

Before the NYSPHSAA received its final guidelines from the NYSDOH, the state’s superintendents sent a letter to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo urging him to suspend athletics throughout the fall.

In an email sent to members of the Bethlehem School District, Superintendent Jody Monroe wrote, “The decision to focus on low-risk play was made with the health and safety of students, staff and the entire Bethlehem school community as our primary considerations. We weighed the risks and benefits, reviewed the official guidance, talked to our district physician and determined that this is the most reasonable way to provide opportunities for student-athletes without jeopardizing the work we are doing to ensure the safe return of teaching and learning to our classrooms.”

Since Bethlehem’s decision, Ballston Spa Central School District also decided to cancel soccer this fall season.

But Nigam said the restrictions and guidelines laid out by NYSPHSAA — wearing a mask at all times, no sharing, designated areas on the field for athletic equipment, and so on — and the Capital Region’s infection rate below 1 percent, made her feel comfortable with resuming sports.

Her two sons are soccer players themselves, and she’s seen how athletic opportunities have been critical for their own educational, physical and emotional development.

“When they’re able to be active, they do very well academically, and they manage their time better during the soccer season,” she said. “The value is just the emotional wellbeing for our students. They’ve all been through so much — they just want to be with their peers and play sports.”

Nigam added that canceling sports seasons can also have a detrimental impact on college and athletic scholarship opportunities for students, saying that her 19-year-old son’s soccer experience helped him get into the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“I respect what goes into these decisions, and I know board members and school administrators just want to keep our kids and families safe,” she said. “But I also don’t want to take anyone’s season away from them.”

Six speakers, five of whom are students athletes, representing each of the canceled sports will be speaking at Wednesday’s 7 p.m. board meeting. More parents and student athletes plan to attend to urge the school district to resume their fall sports.