As the winter sports season concludes on King Street, the start of spring sports is fast approaching.  While continuing to follow COVID-19 guidelines, the Sacred Heart Greenwich Athletic Department prepares to commence the water polo, lacrosse, golf, track and field, tennis, and rowing seasons.  Despite the differences in this upcoming season compared to previous ones, the athletes are ready to return to their sports with honor, heart, and hustle.

The spring sports season will begin March 1 with plans for outdoor practices and tryouts, if the weather permits.  The Athletic Department is following COVID-19 guidance from the State of Connecticut Department of Health.  Ms. Liz Dennison, Director of Athletics, spoke about the COVID-19 safety precautions each team will follow in order to keep everyone safe while still having an enjoyable and productive season.

“We anticipate that it will look similar to this past fall with respect to implementing mitigation strategies to ensure our student-athletes, coaches, and whole community stays healthy,” Ms. Dennison said.  “These include things like our daily health checks, consistent mask-wearing, sanitizing of the equipment, and physical distancing.  Our coaches have been great at adjusting their practice plans and being creative to ensure our training falls within these health and safety guidelines and is also fun, challenging, and sets the student-athletes up for success.”

Mrs. Alyson Costigan, Assistant Director of Athletics, Director of Leadership Programming, and Head Varsity Lacrosse Coach, spoke about how lacrosse practices will run this season.

“Although our season may or may not look a little different this year, we will look to run our practices just like we always would with high pace, competitive drills, and lots of play,” Mrs. Costigan said.  “Our focus will be on learning, competing, and making each other better in all aspects every single day.  The goal of this season is to become the best team that we can be regardless of the environment that we are in.  My hope is that the team will strive to learn as much as they can and get better on an individual basis and team basis.”

Senior Grace Lillis is eager to get back on the lacrosse field this spring after the cancellation of last year’s season.

“Last year our season was completely canceled after tryouts, so the chance to be in person, together as a program is one I am so grateful for,” Grace said.  “However, despite any restrictions we have, my main goal for the upcoming season is to improve as a program, whilst keeping everyone safe and healthy.”

In preparation for the spring season, Sacred Heart Upper School athletes typically go on training trips during spring break.  This year, the teams will participate in spring break training on campus instead, using Sacred Heart’s facilities to prepare for the spring season, rather than traveling to Florida to train.  The Athletic Department is also working on including activities in the local area during the week-long training program.  Mrs. Costigan will ensure that the lacrosse team has engaging and productive training sessions, even with travel restrictions.

“Although we will not be in the sunshine this year we will bring the same energy and fun,” Mrs. Costigan said.  “Most of our practices will be a combination of training, team bonding, and competing.  We will also be participating in a fun day at Chelsea Piers where we can work to expand our leadership skills and have some fun team bonding.”

Despite the restrictions with this year’s season, junior Charlotte Marvin looks forward to expanding her skills as a member of the track and field team.

“I think what I’m looking forward to most this track season is the team bonding during practice,” Charlotte said.  “I think the challenges our team will come across are the meet schedules because I think it will be really difficult for us to showcase our talents if we don’t have too many meets and events for us to perform at.  With that being said, having fewer meets due to COVID-19 also allows us to bond even more during practices so that we come back next year even stronger.”

As for games and tournaments, the Fairchester Athletic Association (FAA) and New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) have not yet made any announcements about the spring season or championships.  Junior Franny O’Brien hopes the lacrosse team can participate in league play this year.

“If the FAA says that there will be no regulation games or FAA tournament, we would all be really disappointed because this would be the second year that we’ve missed out on the opportunity to truly compete,” Franny said.

Despite the leagues’ lack of ruling about the upcoming season, Ms. Dennison and the Athletic Department are trying to find different ways for the teams to engage in competitive play safely.