September 7.  That was when football and soccer planned to hit the field in the fall.  But then a change happened.  Both sports were moved to the spring for the first time in Greendale High School history to try and keep athletes, coaches and fans safe during the pandemic.  This was a shock to players and coaches that were nearing the start of their seasons.

In July, the WIAA originally voted to continue on with fall sports.  They grouped sports into low risk, medium risk and high risk; low risk sports such as cross country, tennis and swimming would start on Aug. 17 and high risk sports such as football, volleyball and soccer would start on Sep. 7.  The teams were also given permission to start prepping by doing workouts and practices starting July 1 while following the guidelines put in place by the public officials.  

But, that was not the final word.  The athletic directors around the state in each conference got together to have the final say in what would be happening in the fall.  While some decided to keep high risk sports the fall, Greendale and a few others districts in the area decided to move soccer and football to the spring.

Athletic director Jerad Galante explains why he felt it was the best option to move the seasons to the spring.  “A main focus on social distancing and or masking being a significant part of their reopening plans,” Galante said.  “Social Distancing would have been impossible for our athletes and coaches to follow in the sports of Boys Soccer and Football this Fall.”

At first, the news wasn’t well received by some of the players.  Senior soccer player Donny Hottinger was pretty unhappy with the decision. “At first, I wasn’t a fan of the season being moved.  But looking at the bigger picture, playing in the spring is probably the safest choice to make and as long as we are playing, that’s what I care about most,” he said.

Senior Jacob Martin is doing his best to get ready for the season in the Spring.  “It’s nice for football because it is basically an extended offseason,” Martin said.  “We are still working out and we even are able to have some practice days coming up soon.”

With this being Hottinger’s senior year, which most would consider the most important and fun, his only focus right now is to prepare for when that day comes.  “Right now, we are just having little practices and workouts to try and stay as ready as possible for the season,” Hottinger said.

Varsity football head coach Rob Stoltz is doing the same with his players.  “Our off-season 212 challenge is under way,” Stoltz said.  212 is a workout program available to all student athletes, but is mostly dominated by the football players.  “We are in a great position to be able to offer our weight room and high quality instruction and programming.  I know that not every school has access to its weight room facilities, so I am very thankful that our administration has been supportive of this,” he said.

This is not only affecting the players, but the fans as well.  Junior Abby LaPlante believes that this is affecting the well being of students that go to Greendale in some ways.  “I really hope that students will be allowed at the games in the spring since that is one of the big memories we make in high school,” LaPlante said.  “We have already missed out on many opportunities, including homecoming, so I am hoping they will at least let us attend football and soccer and cheer on our school.”

So with nothing short of a different season coming in the spring, all we can do now is wait and hope for the best for Greendale sports.