As I have mentioned previously, Covid-19 has thrown all of us off our games, some of them literally. It has been sad to watch baseball and football games with no one in the stands, no one cheering on the team. But the real tragedy of the past few months is that our children haven’t been able to participate in team sports. We have made some exceptions, but since last March most organized sports have been either curtailed, postponed or totally cancelled.
Through it all our Athletic Association has kept going, trying to figure out ways to get our kids back onto the field, the court or wherever.
I was excited when I came to Holy to hear about the tradition of athletics and interscholastic competitions. (Cannot forget our awesome chess team!) I was amazed at the wide variety of sports that they offered, including my sport, golf. I was used to a place being sports-crazy, having come from Borgia where State Championships were commonplace.(The last sporting event of my time at Borgia, they won the State Baseball Championship.)
Sports play a crucial role in the phys- ical, social, mental, moral and spir- itual development of children. They learn to work towards a common goal. They learn the sacrifice of disci- pline. They learn teamwork. They learn mutual respect. They learn how to problem solve. They learn how to lose graciously. (I know a few adults who need to learn this lesson.) They learn how to win with honor. Competition can be destructive, but it can be life-giving also.
That all came crashing to a halt last March.
But slowly and surely, sports have returned, and our Athletic Associa- tion is doing their best to see that the children are playing safely. I would like to congratulate the HRAA for their fine work and for helping our kids get back on their game!
Fr. Kevin