Athletic department to honor ACR despite spring season cancellation

Masters Athletic Director Logan Condon officially announced the cancellation of the spring sports season in an email sent out to all Upper School Families on Tuesday, April 16. For many student-athletes, this news was devastating for a variety of reasons – whether it be their final season with their teammates, or the fact that they were missing out on the opportunity to showcase their talents in the last stages of the college recruitment process. Though many seniors were disappointed with the outcome, it meant something different for the underclassmen–their athletic credit requirement could be affected.

According to the official graduation requirement, a student must complete three seasons of a team sport within their first two years in order to receive their diploma. However, many sophomores had only completed two out of the three required seasons, waiting until the spring to complete their last. But despite speculation surrounding the effects the cancellation would have on the ACR, all rumors were quickly cleared up in Condon’s email. 

“We will honor the commitment of the students who were on a roster at the end of our tryout period by granting them their athletic credit for the spring season,” wrote Condon in the email. 

According to Condon, students should not be worried.

“We want to honor that commitment that student-athletes had put into playing the sport and obtaining their ACR along with it,” Condon said. “I think that during certain circumstances that are out of our control like this, it is not fair to take something away from them,” he continued. 

Originally, sophomore Dell Hallock found himself in a predicament, having planned to complete his third season by playing tennis. This would have given him the credit to complete his ACR and in turn, allow him to compete on the robotics team for all of next school year. 

“I planned it out exactly to the T that I was going to do tennis last spring and then I was going to do swimming this year and tennis again,” Hallock said. But though he planned to originally complete a full year of robotics next school year, he says that he might reconsider playing tennis because of the cancellation.

“I may actually play tennis next year,” he continued. “I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to play this year, really at all – I got to play for like a week – so I probably will consider doing it next year definitely.” Hallock also noted that the spring season is fairly non-existent for robotics – there are virtually no competitions – so he thinks that tennis might be a fun alternative. 

For now, the Athletic Department has encouraged student-athletes to continue to stay active and healthy by providing workouts. The weekly “Panther Challenge” videos on the school’s different social media platforms often challenging different teachers, departments, and grades to take part. 

“The goal behind them is just to offer opportunities for all our students to continue the healthy habits of working out and fitness. The challenge videos on Wednesday are really just to get community engagement,” Condon said.

On top of the cancellation at Masters, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that all New York schools will remain closed for the rest of the year, thus ending the spring sports season for all.

As a former high school athlete, Condon gets that the cancellation is disappointing for many, but he recognizes the bigger picture. “I really just want everyone in our community to be healthy and safe,” he said.