Months of hope amid delay turned to despair on Friday as the Arizona Interscholastic Association announced the cancellation of all winter sports.
Student-athletes on Payson Highâs boys and girls basketball and wrestling teams patiently waited and adjusted as the AIA pushed the start of winter sports competition from early December to mid-January and cut their schedules.
COVID-19 minimization efforts spurred the moves that included elimination of regular-season wrestling tournaments and a limit of one match per day for wrestlers prior to the section tournament, limiting teams to 14 dual matches in the shortened season.
With only duals allowed during the regular season rather than the common four-team formate with two matches going simultaneously, Payson would have been able to hold all home matches under one of the few spotlights in the state, which opponents love to wrestle under.
Months of hope amid delay turned to despair on Friday as the Arizona Interscholastic Association announced the cancellation of all winter sports.
Student-athletes on Payson Highâs boys and girls basketball and wrestling teams patiently waited and adjusted as the AIA pushed the start of winter sports competition from early December to mid-January and cut their schedules.
COVID-19 minimization efforts spurred the moves that included elimination of regular-season wrestling tournaments and a limit of one match per day for wrestlers prior to the section tournament, limiting teams to 14 dual matches in the shortened season.
With only duals allowed during the regular season rather than the common four-team formate with two matches going simultaneously, Payson would have been able to hold all home matches under one of the few spotlights in the state, which opponents love to wrestle under.
The abrupt shift to distance learning last year across the nation had only a modest impact on student learning, according to several new national studies.
Reading scores this fall held up pretty well, despite the loss of three months of in-person instruction in most districts last spring. However, math scores dropped significantly, according to three different national studies based on test scores this fall.
Thatâs the good news.
Hereâs the bad news.
Rural, low-income and minority students generally lost more ground than others. This means the impact of the pandemic exacerbated educationâs already worrisome wealth gap. Most of the research so far focuses on grades K-8, where students have continued taking standardized achievement tests.
Elite athletes need to be in shape to perform to their potential.
Raci Miranda is an elite athlete. Sheâs proven that since storming onto the Payson High School varsity softball scene as a power hitting shortstop her freshman season.
Sheâs continued to crush the ball at the plate and has established herself as one of the most dominant pitchers in the state.
And itâs not all physical.
âI think what helps me is mentally understanding the game,â she said. âThis is one aspect of the game that I have been working on.â
And with just one more high school season remaining, Miranda is planning for her future.