COVID-19 has had a large impact on high school CIF tournaments, students’ college scholarships and college recruitments. Many student athletes are concerned that the pause in games, tournaments and on-campus college visits will affect their admissions process for collegiate sports teams.

Sports games have been canceled since last year and are still postponed until further notice. As of now, each CIF program has created a modified schedule for championships and anticipates that most start dates will be in December 2020 or January 2021.

Senior athletes applying to colleges this year have been impacted the most by defunded sports.  

“Most people were put out of jobs, and that cuts out funding,” swimmer and senior Kai Wong said. “So, since programs are cut, athletes might be decommitting or transferring to other schools…their educational and recruiting experiences are tarnished.”

Some of the colleges Wong has visited so far are University of California, San Diego, Boston University and Case Western Reserve University.

“Taking those official visits, like I said, seals the deal…it helps make a well-informed decision of where you want to commit to,” Wong said. “Since you do not have any overnight visits, it also loses a lot of connection with seeing the team dynamic at that school.” 

For other athletes like senior Josh Steinberg, there has not been as much struggle because they have already had exposure to college recruiters and established relationships with them.

“The good thing is…I was talking to those coaches before the pandemic hit, so I already had some connections either from club or high school…so I feel like it is a little easier, but the main thing is you have to be consistent,” Steinberg said.

Other athletes like football player Max Gatti are simply trying to keep a positive outlook although they have not had many chances to interact with recruiters.

“Not having a season right now means that you have less game film to share [with] coaches,” Gatti said. “It’s really important to have a good attitude when coming into a sport like football. Anyone can join and play as long as they’re willing to dedicate themselves to working hard for the team.” 

Many athletes are trying to maintain a stable relationship with their recruiters during these hard times, and are looking forward to playing in collegiate teams in the future.