Corona Virus Ends University of South Alabama Softball Season Along With All Other NCAA Sports

This past week, March 9 through March 15, has been life changing for the sports industry all around the world and heartbreaking news has been released for myself and the rest of my softball team at the University of South Alabama. A recent arise of a disease has but a halt on all things sports varying from softball, baseball, basketball, tennis, cross country, and many other spring sporting events. We all have been recently impacted by this disease, better known as the corona virus, that started in China, working its way to the Italians, and now spreading rapidly throughout the United States. The corona virus is any group of RNA viruses that cause a variety of diseases in humans and some animals. It creates cough, fever, tiredness, and difficulty breathing. It is spread through face-to-face contact, through the air, and by touching things that infected people have also touched. As for sporting events and competition, NCAA along with all sporting conferences (Sunbelt for my softball team) has made the decision to cancel all games, practices, lifts and any other correlating events relating to social sporting activities. As a participant on the University of South Alabama softball team, this was heart breaking news. Our season was completely removed leaving us with nothing for the remainder of the year. A quote from NCAA states “The NCAA continues to closely monitor COVID-19 and is taking proactive measures to mitigate the potential impact of the virus. When it comes to decision-making, our commitment is this: protect the health and safety of college athletes. All remaining winter and spring NCAA championships and related events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, have been canceled. While we understand how disappointing this is for everyone, our decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States.” Another statement regarding the corona virus released by the Sunbelt stated “NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference has announced that the league is canceling all organized athletics-related activities, including regular-season competitions, conference championships and practices, through the remainder of the academic year. This decision was made in consultation with the league’s Presidents, Chancellors and Directors of Athletics to address growing concerns surrounding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).” Lastly is a statement from head softball coach at the University of South Alabama, Becky Clark, regarding myself and my team, “My immediate response was that this would be a temporary inconvenience and that we may have to make some changes to our daily routine and travel but that season would go on and our players would get to finish what they started. It has been a bit surreal as the truth has set in that our original plans will not happen. The amazing things about our sport is that it encourages tough, independent, and strong young women. At some point we will return to normalcy and be able to play and coach the game we love… until then GO JAGS!!” I am sure it was a difficult decision made by both parties, looking out for the health and safety of all sport participants, coaches, sporting staff, and fans attending the games and events. As for the seniors and all athletes losing a year of playing time, the NCAA has promised to give an extra year of eligibility to all players who wish to take it. The trending hashtag for this is #coronaredshirtyear. This means that all student athletes are given a fifth year to attend college and play one last season for their university of choice. I know for myself along with my 20 teammates this was not how we expected our 2020 season to go but it motivates us to work harder and to get better for the next year/season to come. Everything happens for a reason and I am excited to see what next year has instore for our team. Go Jags!!