PEABODY, MASS. (WHDH) - Peabody High School students successfully called on officials to allow fall sports at a school committee meeting Tuesday.
The Northeastern Conference, which includes Peabody, previously voted 9-3 to postpone all fall sports due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dozens of students came to Higgins Middle School, where the school committee was scheduled to meet Tuesday, waving signs and chanting in hopes the committee would change its mind.
“We are multi-sport athletes and we are also captains for the basketball team as well. And if we lose this season, it’s just going to be pushed away we are going to lose our basketball season together. I play lacrosse too, I will lose that,” senior Amber Kiricoples said.
The vote went in their favor with the athletic and wellness subcommittee voting unanimously to move forward with the fall one season.
“That is what gets you out of bed at 6 a.m. to go to school and work hard for six hours at a school desk,” Senior Aja Alimondi said. “Then go out to the field after school and see your friends and have a distraction. It makes the best part of your day and it’s more than just a sport.”
With other North Shore communities giving their sports programs the green light, parents said it is important for their children to be able to return to some sense of normalcy.
“Coaches are ready to go and it should be done,” parent Scott Lynch said.
The committee also ruled that students who opt for remote learning only may also play sports.
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