By: Gabriel Kamins, Opinions Editor
The Coronavirus has swept across the world, causing people to stay home, keep six feet away from each other, sanitize frequently, and practice many life-altering things. However, an underrated effect of the virus is the impact it has on juniors in high school who are trying to get recruited to play sports in college. Whether they are unable to go on visits to schools or participate in camps, or their season was cancelled entirely, leaving them with less film to send to coaches, many juniors at River Hill have felt the impacts of the Coronavirus, and must figure out where to go from here.
Zach Igwebe is one of the better players to suit up for the River Hill Football team in recent years. This past season, Igwebe was named First Team All-County as a linebacker and also ran for 13 touchdowns as a running back. Due to his impressive junior year, Igwebe has been in contact with coaches from “Monmouth University, Kutztown University, Elon University, Davidson University, Towson University, Dickinson University, Bridgewater University, and Williams University.” However, due to the virus, Igwebe “can’t go on any visits” to schools that are showing interest in him, which makes the process of deciding on a school difficult for him. Thankfully, though, “a lot of recruiting is done through Twitter these days,” Igwebe noted, and thus, his recruitment has not been “drastically impacted.” So what’s next for Zach? “The logical next step would be to find a school that would be the best fit [for him] and hopefully get an offer to play football there,” he explained. Igwebe is exercising every day in order to stay in shape, as he is unable to attend normally scheduled lifting sessions with his team.
While Igwebe had the luxury of being able to play his junior season, those who play a spring sport were not as fortunate. River Hill Lacrosse had a promising season in store for 2020, but unfortunately had their season cancelled due to the virus, leaving juniors like Kyle Henry and Jack Burns with less of an opportunity to showcase their talents for colleges. For Henry, the pre-virus recruiting process was going well. He was “getting a lot of messages from Division 2 and Division 3 schools, as well as some from Division 1, and a lot of invitations to special camps and showcases.” The star goalie’s recruitment has been “affected a lot” by the virus. “I missed my junior year of lacrosse, which was my biggest year, as I was striving to have the highest save percentage in the league,” he said. He also had “many tournaments lined up with many different coaches from different schools” for the summer, and is hoping that they don’t get cancelled. Similar to Henry, Jack Burns has “attended a few Division 1 camps” and has “gotten many Division 3 schools aggressively pursuing [him]”. He has even “sat down with a few interested Division 3 coaches.” But, Burns, who explained that “Junior year is typically the biggest year for recruiting,” has certainly felt the impacts of the virus. Still, he’s staying hopeful. “Assuming the summer tournament is not canceled, there should be plenty more opportunities for me to play in front of college coaches,” he explained. Currently, both athletes are sending their highlight videos and information to different coaches across the country. “It’s a weird time and [that] is really all you can do for now,” explained Henry.
For student-athletes who are attempting to play sports in college, this is a very difficult time. They must do their best to stay in shape, with limited access to training resources, while also doing what they can, despite some having less film to send, to get noticed from coaches at the next level. The Coronavirus has had an impact on everyone’s lives, with some feeling the effects more than others. It’s important to stay home, practice good hygiene, and social distance when necessary. That way, this pandemic can pass soon, and life can be back to normal. Until then, Zach Igwebe, Kyle Henry, Jack Burns, and student-athletes all across the country are still determined to put themselves in the best position to play college sports.