Loss is gain for Alaska’s high school seniors

Have you ever wondered what life would be like without sports and activities?

Now we know. And it isn’t fun. No NCAA basketball tournament. No traditional Major League Baseball Opening Day. No professional basketball or hockey playoffs. The Summer Olympics have been delayed for at least a year. And the list of community cancellations and postponements is nearly endless.

If you’re a high school activities fan, the disappointment runs even deeper, and it strikes much closer to home. The interruption of school has played havoc with the activities season here in Alaska. No March Madness Alaska basketball and cheer competitions. No Alaska Association of Student Governments Spring Conference. No ASAA Solo and Ensemble Festival or All-State Art competitions. No ASAA soccer, baseball, softball, track and field regular seasons or championships.

Months of expectation and intense training appear to have been wasted for thousands of students. And depending on your grade, the dream of scoring a decisive victory over an arch-rival or performing at a state championship has either been put on hold or permanently surrendered. While it’s “wait ‘til next year” for freshmen, sophomores and juniors, for most of the high school seniors who participate in our cancelled activities, this is more than a lost season. It’s the end of a career. The NCAA estimates that, depending on the sport, only about 3% of all high school athletes go on to play a sport in college.

The senior first baseman who picked up his first bat when he was five years old will never have the opportunity to swing at a fastball again. The champion runner who has diligently trained to shatter the high school state record may never compete in the 100-meter dash again. The young woman who was elected captain of her soccer team will never know how deep into the tournament her squad could have gone. The list goes on and on.

But here’s what will happen, and it’s significant. That same first baseman has learned that baseball is about far more than trying to hit a ball with a stick; it’s about a group of young men from vastly different backgrounds coming together as a team. The sprinter has discovered that if a person has enough determination, barriers once thought impossible can be broken. And the captain of the soccer team will take the leadership skills she’s learned as a student-athlete and apply them to everything she does for the rest of her life.

Their seasons — indeed, their activity careers — may be over, but the character those senior athletes have developed because they participated in education-based high school activities lives on. It will encourage, guide and positively influence communities here in Alaska for the next generation and beyond.

High school seniors, thank you for the contribution you have made to your team, your school and your community. And thank you for the shared sacrifice you are making right now.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.” To those Alaska student-participants who graduate this spring, you may have lost your senior season, but you have gained both intelligence and character because you participated in high school activities. Best wishes for continued growth and success.

Karissa Niehoff serves as Executive Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Billy Strickland is the Executive Director of the Alaska School Activities Association.

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