Soccer season was different but the players got to play

Emma Gallant (10) works to control the ball during a game with Somers before the pandemic as a junior. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

By GRACE BILODEAU
Special to The Collinsville Press

CANTON — So many facets of our lives have been changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grace Bilodeau spoke with Emma Gallant, a senior captain on the Canton High girls soccer team and indoor track and field team about participating in sports during the pandemic.

Practice for the girls soccer team didn’t begin until late August in small groups or cohorts. The full team didn’t get together until Sept. 21 and games didn’t begin until early October.

The schedule was limited to 12 games – home-and-away contests against six regional teams from the North Central Connecticut Conference and an extra two post-season contests. The Warriors finished 5-8 with a pair of victories in their post-season contests.

Indoor track wasn’t allowed to begin practice until January 19 and won’t be allowed to compete until at least March when the CIAC hopes to coordinate some outdoor events.

Q: How has your senior sports season been affected by the pandemic?

A: Soccer was definitely impacted by the pandemic. It was certainly a little different this year, including the pre season and regular season. It took awhile to get to the point where we could all play together and have full length practices. We were also unable to play all of the typical teams in our conference and there was no state tournament.

Q: What did you appreciate most about the soccer season during the pandemic?

A: I appreciated that we were able to play in the first place, especially the games because it was looking pretty questionable in the beginning.

Q: What were some of the challenges you faced?

A: Some challenges were definitely in the beginning of the (soccer) season where we had to split up into two groups and only were able to practice for an hour. A good part of our team was freshmen so it made it very difficult to get to know each other. Additionally, it took a little while before we could move to contact drills so we couldn’t do everything we would normally be doing for a while.

Q: How are you feeling about the upcoming indoor track season? What are you looking forward to? What are you nervous about?

A: I am looking forward to being with my teammates for indoor track because it has been awhile due to the fact we lacked an outdoor season last year. I am a little nervous about how it’s going to play out just because there will be no indoor meets or anything so it will definitely be different.