CANTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Coronavirus has thrown a wrench into the season of many high school sports players. The Canton girl’s soccer team nearly missed their chance to compete for the championship when players were asked to quarantine.
But now, things are looking up.
Canton High School soccer player Amy Hyland and her teammates were crushed when they were told Wednesday that the Canton and Foxboro girls soccer teams would have to forfeit play in the Hockomock Cup Championship tournament.
The teams were ordered to quarantine because of possible COVID-19 exposure just 24 hours before the opening games.
“Of course we were devastated to find out the news originally because this team really is our second family,” Hyland said. “We’ve been playing together since we were 5-years-old.”
The girls did not give up. They posted a video on Change.org and asked league officials to extend the season. The plea quickly generated more than a thousand signatures.
“We thank you in advance and we hope you will consider this matter seriously,” teammate Elisa DiLetizia said. “As a senior, we’ve gotten every fall activity taken away from us. please don’t take this one away too.”
Hockomock Athletic directors then came up with a creative solution to give number one seeded Canton and number two seeded Foxboro a chance to play.
“We came up with the idea of letting the tournament run until its conclusion and let everybody participate like they would and then the two teams that are quarantining get to play each other at the end when they’re able to and then play against the winner of that big tournament,” Canton High Athletic Director Danny Erickson said. “So, it’s like a win-win for everybody.”
During the quarantine period, the Canton team will hold meetings and practices over Zoom so they can be ready to take the field soon.
“And we are beyond excited. We cannot wait. We are so grateful for this opportunity and we are so thankful for all the support we have received. And we are just really ecstatic, over the moon. We can’t wait to play our new game,” Hyland said.
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