What a difference a year makes. Winter sports competition at Fieldston and at most of our peer schools last year was erased by the global coronavirus pandemic. While our coaches did their best to keep teams’ spirits and skills intact with practices in our respective cohorts and occasional full-team zoom meetings, the electricity of competition in the Nest we once knew was, sadly, in hibernation. This year, the winter sports program of 2021/2022 has arisen from the cave. The school community has never been more excited and proud to come out and cheer for its teams as they resumed play against their rivals. This return to “normalcy,” however, was not easy. Athletic Director Gus Ornstein and his colleagues in the athletic department, along with the ECFS administration, had to work day and night to make this a safe and spectacular return. Gus shared, “I am so happy that we were able to make it all the way through our winter sports season! It took a huge effort and a ton of planning and protocols – but the best thing is that the kids all had the chance to play and not miss out on another season of competition. The impact of sports being back has had such a positive impact on the entire school and the spirit of the school, and being able to provide sports for the school throughout the winter was so huge! I am appreciative of our administration and especially Kyle Wilkie Glass for being so helpful and supportive of our athletics, and making it possible for spectators to be able to attend our games.”
One of the biggest challenges to resuming games at Fieldston and at our peer schools was that Covid policies were constantly changing – at the state level, the city level and even within our leagues and individual schools. But Gus was up for the task: “Navigating Covid policies and protocols is so difficult and time-consuming and makes everything so difficult- mainly because they change so frequently,” he shared.” It makes it difficult to plan anything beyond a day or two because things will most likely change – but again it was well worth the effort to ensure the continuation of athletics. I think the key is the ability to be flexible and the fact that we are fortunate to have so much support from all of our school, and our head of school, to keep our athletics going.”
In years past, season highlights may have been measured by team championships or by individual achievements. This year, the bar is different. Gus shared that the most important accomplishment of this winter sports season was getting through unscathed, even during the Omicron variant outbreak. “I know that this might sound corny,” Gus noted, “but (the highlight was) just the fact that we played and never shut it down and were able to allow spectators, and therefore keep the spirit going all season long. Of course, there have also been some major team successes and individual successes throughout the winter season, and I love that as well. But it can not be lost or understated just how important and how big it is that we did not hit the pause button all season long.”
Covid shut-downs have been hard for everyone, but they’ve been particularly difficult for one segment of our community: the seniors. Losing one’s last chance to suit up in a Fieldston uniform is heartbreaking, and Gus fought hard to give our seniors their opportunity to shine this winter and into the spring. Says Gus, “Every season is important as our seniors have just missed so much, especially our spring seniors, and I am so excited for them to finally get back on the fields this spring.”
Beyond the students, it’s important to acknowledge the toll of the pandemic on coaches and educators. We hear a lot on the news about the great sacrifices made by medical workers throughout this pandemic. But we need to also bring light to how hard our faculty and coaches have worked to keep us on the fields, in the gyms and in our classrooms. The stress level has been high, Gus acknowledges: “It is challenging. But I am so fortunate to work with an incredible group of coaches who all understand the importance of keeping the season going and the importance of what sports means to all of our athletes, and they were all so willing to follow all the mandates and protocols and make the sacrifices to keep the kids playing – and for that I am forever grateful. It also can not be lost that our coaches also loved that we were able to keep playing.”
Let’s all try to remember how much goes on behind the scenes to allow us to compete and create some of the best memories of our lives. I personally will think about this every time I put on a Fieldston uniform. In the years ahead, when hopefully we will begin to forget about the pandemic, we must hold a feeling of gratitude for those, like Gus, who worked their tails off so we could play.
