COVID-19’s Effect on GOA’s Fall Sports

By Elan Wasserman ‘22

    Just as COVID-19 has affected the lives of all students, it particularly has an impact on Golda Och athletes. In order to minimize dangerous contact, all of GOA’s fall sports teams had an intramural season, meaning they did not play other teams, but had practices mainly consisting of scrimmages. As the fall season comes to a close, the GOA community has a chance to reflect and evaluate the value of these intramural teams during such a trying time.

    “Even though it was disappointing that we weren’t able to play other schools, I still enjoyed playing intramural soccer,” junior Eli Berman, midfielder on the boy’s soccer team, said.
Most GOA athletes agreed with Berman’s sentiment. The season was inferior to a typical season of fall sports but better than no season at all.
    “We had fun, I really enjoyed it, and I was just glad we got to play,” sophomore and cross-country athlete Daniel Schiffman said.
    This was the general consensus from all players, whether they played boy’s soccer, cross country or girl’s soccer. They were happy to have a season after going so many months without school sports and a close GOA community.
    “Soccer was fun this year, but it was missing the competitive aspect of the games, an integral part of the sport,” Eve Askin, junior and a midfielder on the soccer team, said, referring to the lack of competition against other schools.
    Not only were the intramural sports missing competition, they also lacked part of the community aspect. Players could enjoy after-school practice with teammates. However, without the team huddles, the lunchtime practices and the conversations about who should be starting, the team experience just felt different. The support system existed but lacked the strength found in competition.
    Hopefully in the future, GOA will be able to allow competition with other schools. In the meantime, students are thankful for their access to intramural sports. With the fall season at its close, hopefully the winter season will bring even more fun to the GOA community.