An Inside Look into the Inter-Ac Fall Season

As we all know, the outbreak of COVID-19 has plunged the world into a period of uncertainty, fear, and a complete upheaval of everyday life. Everything we were once accustomed to was changed by the flip of a dime. With increasing restrictions and the severity of the pandemic at play, it seemed hopeless to assume that sports would continue in any capacity. However, like-minded students, including myself, were unable to accept the prospect of losing our sports seasons.    

Like GA, the other Inter-Ac schools went to practice, masks on and distant, unsure of what would come of the game we love to play: football. At first, the fall season was planned for the spring, given the uncertainty of these new circumstances. While it was assured to learn there would be a football season, we feared that when the time finally came, the season may be taken away for the same reason it was pushed to the spring. 

One day after practice in September, Dean Shacklett ‘23 told me that a friend of his from Penn Charter was looking for student-athletes interested in representing their schools in a fall season proposal. Eager at the hope of a season, fellow teammate Mike Rowan ‘21 and I decided to be the senior representatives on behalf of GA. Other Inter-Ac students soon took action in the following days, and before we knew it, we had a fighting chance at playing our beloved sport. The proposal did not only have football in mind, but rather all fall athletics. Every student-athlete in the Inter-Ac pours their hearts into their respective sports, and we believed everyone deserved the opportunity to play. 

The proposal itself was composed by Penn Charter student-athlete Jerry Rullo ‘21. Detailed in the proposal were rates of transmission, measures to prevent transmission (such as random testing for coaches and athletes and distant sidelines), and the fact that public schools were having seasons in full gear despite running at a much larger and less manageable capacity. Originally, the proposal was met with scrutiny and quickly shot down, as logistically speaking, planning a fall season on short notice while also lacking the full support of the community limited its success. However, feelings soon changed, and we were told only two weeks later that the season was on. 

Ultimately, the movement of this compassionate group of students played a crucial role in the reinstatement of a traditional fall season, even if it was not a full season. For an overwhelming majority of student-athletes, this was a reasonable and well-received compromise. Without the cohesiveness and stubborn vigor brought to the table by the student committee, there is no telling whether the end result would have been the same. With these parameters in place, the fall sports teams at every Inter-Ac school had the opportunity to play with great success. Inherently, there were cases of COVID-19 contracted, but these contractions were both rare and well-controlled. 

Having the chance to play the sports we love has alleviated the stresses of being a high-school student and a teenager. Lacking most other typical outlets for recreation, the only word to describe our success is elation. There is an overwhelming sense of happiness and fulfillment from student-athletes universally, and I would like to be their voice in thanking everyone that made it possible. Without the support of the students, none of this would have been possible. I’m extremely proud of the leadership taken by my peers and of the small role I played in getting our fall season back.