Following the Oregon School Activities Association’s cancellation decision Wednesday, Creswell High School officials are turning their attention from planning for shortened seasons and events to instead honoring and supporting students dealing with the end of school.
Brandon Standridge, Creswell’s assistant principal and athletic director, said Wednesday evening that he was “saddened” by the decision because so many students and parents will miss out on lifetime memories.
“We are obviously saddened by the news that we are not going to have spring sports for this year,” he said. “Our players and coaches have put in countless hours of work to get to this point and for this season they won’t get to showcase their talents. We especially feel for the senior student-athletes and their families who were supposed to see their sacrifices culminate in putting on the Bulldogs uniform for one more season; and all of the memories and celebrations that go along with that.
“Personally, I remember a lot of memories that were made during my senior year of baseball, and I hurt for our players that won’t get to make those same memories,” he said.
Standridge said school administrators had been discussing plans for shortened seasons and tournaments. Now, they’ll focus on supporting students who have missed out on extracurricular activities.
“We were hopeful that we could get in a shortened season if allowed to go back to school. Moving forward, the administration will work on a plan to celebrate at least our senior athletes, in a format that is consistent with the social guidelines. It is important that they know that they have our full support and we will help them through this unprecedented time,” Standridge said.
CHS is collaborating with the Creswell School District leadership team on those efforts. The high school might participate in a statewide campaign – #BealightOR – that several area schools have adopted, including Pleasant Hill.
Per Governor Kate Brown’s announcement earlier today that Oregon schools will be closed to in‐person learning for the remainder of the school year, the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) has cancelled all remaining Spring activities and state championships.
“Today’s heart wrenching decision is difficult for all members of the OSAA family,” said Peter Weber, OSAA Executive Director. “We empathize with students and school communities, especially our graduating seniors, but recognize that these cancellations will allow our collective focus to remain where it’s most needed at this time ‐ on the health and safety of all Oregonians.”
“We had maintained hope for an abbreviated Spring season to help bring a sense of normalcy to these uncertain times,” continued Weber. “Now more than ever we need to apply the lessons learned through participation in education‐based activities – teamwork, sacrifice, resilience – and play our role in adhering to the public health guidelines. We all look forward to the day when we play again.”
Current OSAA policies prohibiting the use of school facilities and coaches from organizing or directing workouts and practices remain in effect until further notice. The OSAA Executive Board will meet in the coming weeks to discuss policies for summer activities, along with academic eligibility concerns for Fall 2020 that have been expressed by member schools and families. The OSAA and our member schools are currently awaiting guidance from ODE on credit attainment for 9th‐11th grade students through the state’s Distance Learning for All initiative.
Visit http://www.osaa.org/coronavirus for OSAA policies, plus health and safety resources, related to COVID‐ 19. Included on this page are all memos and media releases from OSAA regarding this situation since early March, along with a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) designed to answer the most common questions we have been receiving.
