Julia Mills ’22
For many Mercersburg students and teachers, sports and athletics are critical aspects of life. Needless to say, Covid-19 restrictions have put a damper sense in athletic competitiveness. To counteract this, coaches at Mercersburg have been organizing “Blue and White” scrimmages to give athletes the opportunity to participate in live matches the way they typically would under normal circumstances.
Gordon Lee ‘21, a member of the boys’ soccer program, said, “The blue and white games are a great way to apply what we practice every day in a competitive, game-like setting and discover things we can improve on. To add on, they’re enjoyable and can help create bonds with teammates!” Coaches seem to acknowledge the benefits of the Blue and White games as well. Tim Kerr, the head coach for boys’ lacrosse, said, “I think [the Blue and White games] are great! They also allow the coaching staff feedback on what we need to work on moving forward. Any time we have a chance to compete and learn is time well spent!” Andy Brown, the head coach for football, agrees, saying, “It was great to see the players compete against each other and learn from the experiences.”
While the benefits of these competitions are clear, some believe that they have the potential to become more than just “enjoyable scrimmages”. In fact, many believe that these games could improve school spirit. Brown says that the school should “make [Blue and White games] a bigger deal and space them out so other sports teams can come watch.” In a survey, 43% of athletes responded that their Blue and White games did not have a great turnout of crowds. Jack Quagliaroli ‘22, a member of the boys’ soccer program, said that the best way to improve school spirit would be to have interscholastic matches. Nevertheless, “we did the best that we could,” Quagliaroli said.
The future of Covid-19 and athletics at Mercersburg is uncertain, but there is a general consensus that the establishment of Blue and White games should carry on into years to come. Brown thinks that there could be an element of compromise: “it would be great for us to do one a season.” Covid-19 might have just created a new Mercersburg athletics program.