Palmer high school will compete in golf, soccer and cross country this fall. Field hockey will compete in Fall II, which is scheduled to start on February 22, 2021.

The Palmer school committee approved the plan 4-1 during a meeting on Wednesday.

“The committee was very open and reasonable tonight,” said Nickey Rathbone, a parent of a player on the school’s girls soccer team and presented to the committee during Wednesday’s meeting. “They were very open. I think they have given this a lot of thought. Some might still not agree that it is the right decision, but they thing its the best decision for the community. We are beyond thrilled.”

Pathfinder Regional, which is in Palmer, also had a school committee meeting on Wednesday. The committee approved a proposal that allows Pathfinder to compete in golf, soccer, cross country and field hockey this fall. Football and cheerleading will be allowed to conduct out of season practices starting on Friday.

Palmer’s vote is a reversal on a decision its school committee made last month. During a meeting on August 31, the committee voted to postpone soccer and field hockey to the Fall II season while keeping the school’s other sports in Fall I.

Following pushback from the community on the decision, the committee reconvened on Wednesday and listened to thoughts and concerns from members of the school’s community before re-voting.

Community members showed concern during Wednesday’s meeting about what it says to other schools that Palmer is one of the few communities that had not adopted the guidelines.

For soccer, if it is played this fall, it is a violation to intentionally head the ball, place your hands on any part of an opposing team member’s body, make body contact with an opposing team member’s body and to attempt to slide tackle and more, according to the MIAA COOVID-19 Task Force.

“I think one of the things that we have struggled with is that just about all of our surrounding towns have elected to accept that these guidelines will protect our athletes and non-athletes,” Rathbone said to the committee on Wednesday. “It feels like we are saying that these towns, our community, are being malicious with the lives of these kids.”

Parents and coaches spoke with the school committee on September 7 in an attempt to get the committee to reconsider its initial decision. The committee decided it would reconvene on Wednesday to give members enough time to absorb feedback.

During the hour before Wednesday’s meeting, members of the Palmer girls soccer team rallied outside the school in a show of solidarity in hopes that the committee would vote to let the team play this fall.

“With Fall II, it’s not a good time of year to play soccer,” said senior Olivia Coughlin. “Where will we play and get to where we are playing? … What other teams can we play? It’s hard to think about playing soccer in February. I know if we play now we won’t be playing soccer as we always do, but it would be nice to just be out there with each other and have fun.”

If the season was played in Fall II, Palmer senior Miyah Mega was concerned about how playing the game during February could affect her and her teammates physically.

“My concern is injuries,” she said. “How many injuries will we get in Fall II compared to Fall I? … I’m also concerned about the seniors. Our whole team is older now. We have worked all the way up to now. … Injuries are a big concern for me. Especially when you have players looking at college recruitment.”

Loretta Petrashewicz is an eighth grader on the girls soccer team. She also competes in track and basketball. Her biggest concern about moving the season to Fall II was the potential of the season being cut short, or cancelled, and the team’s seniors not being able to have one final season.

“I want it to happen in the fall because there are a lot of seniors and they’ve been playing together for a long time,” said Petrashewicz. “They are good role models to us.”

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