In another disappointing decision, Ohio has decided to postpone winter sports for a few weeks in response to a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state. The announcement comes after months of speculation whether Ohio high schools could even have a winter sports season.

The news has been greeted by our athletes with frustration, but also understanding. Athletes are now faced with the possibility of missing another portion of their winter sports season as the OHSAA high school basketball playoffs were cut short last year due to the onset of the pandemic.

“We have to be flexible,” Junior basketball player Nate Fox expresses. “No one’s really sure when we’re gonna come back or if we’re even gonna have a season at all. We kind of have to take every piece of information we get with a grain of salt. We need to focus on the things we can control.”

As of now, basketball is scheduled to resume practice on Saturday, December 22. Bowling, however, is still up in the air. There is no definitive start date that bowling can continue. Bowlers have only been given an estimate of when they can resume their sport. 

“Nobody knows a lot right now,” Junior bowler Landon Maderitz says. “It’s a waiting game to see what the governor and other officials are going to do with our season.”

As if the pandemic hasn’t been stressful enough, the kids who looked forward to participating in a winter sport don’t know whether they will have another high school experience stripped from them. They have to wait for the governor to make his decision.