Jeanne Barreca has served as the registrar for the Webster Cyclones for the last six years. She feels sorry for the kids who play youth hockey because she knows many of the kids may not be able to play their full season.

“So, all those kids are going to be very disappointed or have a very short season and some of them are trying to qualify for state tournaments, national tournaments, and how we’re going to do that in a very short season, I don’t know,” said Barreca. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday low-risk sports such as tennis, soccer, cross country, field hockey and swimming can begin to play on September 21. Teams for high-risk sports such as hockey are allowed to practice, but won’t be able to play until a later date. 

“That was very confusing because we know the September 21 date is for high school fall sports, but he put up a slide for youth sports, so we’re all really confused,” said Barreca

Barreca is frustrated. She says ice rinks have been open for over a month now and there haven’t been any issues. 

“So why hockey, with stable rosters, and all this paperwork that surrounds them, and a lot of strict rules, can’t play games, we don’t understand,” said Barreca

Barreca believes Governor Cuomo has overall done a good job during the pandemic but would like to see hockey classified as a moderate risk as opposed to a high-risk sport. 

“Every sport with modification could be allowed to practice and play safely for youth and high school. It’s getting the right people in place and having them make the rules and allowing it to go forward,” said Barreca.