On September twenty-ninth, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) released a plan to play fall sports that missed more than 40% of their season in a shortened spring season. This comes after the cancellation of the fall football season. Many people were quick to voice their opinion about the choice to not play in the fall, forcing the CIAC to take action. According to the Hartford Courant, football teams will play a maximum of five games with one scrimmage, and no postseason. Practice will start on February 27th, and games will be played from March 19th-April 17th.

Players on the Coginchaug football team were optimistic about the season, as they are out on the field practicing three days a week preparing for their season. Senior captain Evan Faiella (Coginchaug) said, “I’m glad they’re giving us a chance to play, we’ll take what we can get and continue to prepare for the spring.” That seemed to be the case for the rest of the team. “I’m just excited to play football,” said senior Dean Fonatano (East Hampton), “I’m a senior and this is my last chance so I’m looking forward to just being on the field one more time.” The players have stayed positive throughout this process, even though it has been hard. Coginchaug football coach Rich Murphy, said he was “honored”, to be a part of the team and, “This is something special that is teaching kids how to persevere not only on the field, but in life.” In the end, playing a spring season depends on how the state handles COVID-19 cases this winter and spring. With this in mind, many coaches and players have thought about playing in independent football leagues. The state would not be able to stop them, and kids would be able to play and showcase their skills. While it is an alternative option, the state still doesn’t want anyone playing contact football. Some coaches and players are still not happy with the move to play in the spring. Coginchaug Junior Dylan Quincy said, “I’m excited to play football… I just wish we could play now.” Many people think we could have played in the fall, including St, Joseph’s football coach Joe Della Vecchia. “It’s an absolute mockery of the game of football…It’s a fake meaningful experience for these players, in my mind. We could be into a (full fall) season by now”, as stated in the Gametimect article. 

At the end of the day, there will be many different opinions, but not everyone can be happy. At least there will be some football played this year, there’s not much more you can ask for considering how unpredictable 2020 has been so far.