‘Fall II’ sports spring into action

Mar 16, 2021

A variety of sports traditionally played in the fall are having their first practices in March as they jump into the “Fall II” season. 

The unprecedented schedule is the result of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s decision to delay fall sports with a high-risk of covid transmission to a “Fall II” season that officially began on Feb. 22. Coaches for the field hockey team and the boys and girls soccer teams talked to Wareham Week about how the delayed season is going so far

Girls soccer

Coach Megan Kashner said playing soccer in March has been strange.

“Weather and cold temperatures are definitely daily concerns,” she said. “I think they’re just happy to be able to play, especially the seniors.”

Kashner said the girls haven’t complained about wearing masks while playing and seem to be handling covid safety regulations well.

Despite the challenges, she said the team has been “upbeat and focused at practice.”

Throughout the season, Kashner said she is looking forward to seeing her players’ “endless effort on the field” and she praised the team’s resilience. 

“I just want them to continue to develop their individual decision-making and [learn] to play the game the right way,” she said.

Field hockey

Marissa Smith, coach of the field hockey team, said it’s “definitely different” to be playing field hockey in the spring. 

“For our seniors and just for everybody in general, it’s just good to be able to play,” she said, noting that last year players missed out — some on their last season. “So we’re super excited, enthusiastic and just also really grateful that we can still make it happen — even if it doesn’t look the same or feel the same, weather-wise.”

Smith said the team looks “really good” so far. There are five or six new players, who Smith described as “dynamic” and veteran players who bring leadership and are very “eager and excited to play.”

In Smith’s eyes, the team’s challenge this season is to be “aggressive on offense.” The team has been stronger on defense in the past, and “getting some goals in the net” is the new focus, she said.

Boys soccer 

Although he said the weather has cooperated so far, Boys soccer coach Evan Wilga noted that “it’s certainly tough adjusting to the cold.”

Wilga said the team has fewer players this year, both because soccer and track are occurring simultaneously and because some players have “other commitments that wouldn’t necessarily interfere with soccer in its normal fall season.”

He emphasized how happy he was to get the players on the field to compete this season.

“This season’s biggest goal is to stay healthy and work on gaining chemistry that’s needed to be a successful team,” Wilga said.