Stuyvesant Sports Are Coming Back—With or Without the PSAL

After canceling all PSAL sports in March, Mayor de Blasio announced that low-risk sports teams may begin congregating for practices starting Monday, September 21. The PSAL, however, released an official statement on its website, stating that all sports will remain indefinitely postponed. In true Stuyvesant fashion, student-athletes have nevertheless found unofficial ways to continue engaging with their teams. Here’s what a few of them had to say:

“Because cross country is considered a low-risk sport, my team should be able to practice and hopefully compete this coming season. Since the starting date for all fall sports has been pushed back, we have more time to prepare. While we will have to implement some necessary changes to the way we run practices and maintain distance, we likely won’t have to make too many adjustments. Since the PSAL hasn’t yet provided much guidance surrounding fall sports, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what this season will look like.”

—Julianne Yotov, senior

“Cross country should be able to officially practice soon, but right now, captains have been holding informal practices with three to five people at a time. We should get some answers from the PSAL soon about how practices (and maybe meets) will be held.”

—Erica Li, sophomore

“The girl’s bowling team would like to start practice as soon as possible at Whitestone Lanes (we get discounts there as students and PSAL players). Bowling alleys have been open since the middle of August and are taking many precautions. As soon as a good number of members are comfortable gathering at bowling alleys, we will have practice and potentially hold tryouts. We mainly want to build a team and engage more interest in our sport even if the PSAL is not continuing this year.”

—Kelly Guo, senior

“Football is a contact-heavy sport, so while we are uncertain about our ability to play this year, we are still getting ready. The team has held Zoom meetings and a few informal practices at Pier 40. The coaches have given us revised workout plans that include using equipment, as gyms are now reopening. We have heard rumors of a spring football season, but for now, we are trying our best to stay in shape and be prepared for whatever comes.”

—Phillip Phan, junior

“Because the PSAL has canceled all school sports, the girls’ soccer team has been unofficially practicing at Pier 40 every week. The captains are running the practices, and we do a lot of scrimmaging to build chemistry on the field. Because our season is currently very unclear, we still want to be prepared and have tried to be consistent with practicing. Practice is a great opportunity to improve skill, but it’s also just nice being with friends again.”

—Shivali Korgaonkar, junior

“As New York City health guidelines prevent fall interscholastic sports from proceeding as usual, the soccer season has been delayed indefinitely. Nonetheless, members of the boys’ soccer team have been meeting up at Pier 40 to practice around twice a week. We have a much smaller number of players present than we normally would, given that not every player can come, and we were unable to hold tryouts in August. We typically play small-sided scrimmages and possession games and occasionally practice with the girls’ soccer team as well. It’s been a great way to stay in shape and catch up with friends. I believe that once PSAL sports return, we will have an exciting season with athletes eager to officially get back on the fields.”

—Matt Melucci, junior

“The Lady Lobsters, Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity tennis team, have tried to maintain the sense of community among the team through workouts two or three times a week. Though tennis could be practiced with social distancing guidelines in place, it is really difficult to find and book tennis courts in New York City without the permit that PSAL usually provides to us, so the best option for our team was to practice virtually. Our online workouts are, of course, not perfect but have afforded us the opportunity to continue bonding with our teammates and exercise together. And, we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be back on the court together in the spring.”
—Talia Kahan, senior