The spring and fall seasons brought a return to playing athletic contests in person
following a long hiatus due to the global pandemic. Six of nine spring teams were able to compete, and in the fall, all teams resumed a normal season, with students and parents cheering them on from the sidelines. “Students were craving as much of a return to normalcy as possible,” said Mike Marich P’23 ’24, Director of Athletics and Head Boys Lacrosse Coach. “For the spring athletes specifically, many of them lost their 2020 season, so they were looking at the better part of two years of not being part of a team and the sports that they love — tennis, golf, lacrosse, you name it. They wanted to get as back-tonormal as possible.” A similar story unfolded in the fall. Students couldn’t wait to get back out on the playing fields with their friends. Interest in girls soccer was so high, the school fielded a JV Girls Soccer Team for the first time in recent years. Many of the requirements put in place due to COVID-19 in the spring were waived this fall, when students returned to campus fully vaccinated. “I give our student-athletes a lot of credit for sticking with it,” Marich said. “Preparing for a high-level contest is hard enough. You want to limit distractions and COVID was just a giant distraction. They were able to do it and compete and play pretty well. Baseball had a great season. Boys lacrosse had a solid season. Girls lacrosse was competitive. They represented our community with class and the feedback from the students at the end of the year was mostly thankful for making the season happen. I was lucky to be able to work with the other schools to allow the students to have those experiences.” 38
The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin
A Return to Play
