Youth leagues take wait-and-see approach as season put on hold

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By Ken Morse, Citizen’s News

Gymnasiums across the region are filled with an eerie sound of silence.

It was just a few weeks ago that high school volleyball players screamed and shouted encouragement to one another in almost empty gyms. But that was before Nov. 23 when the state suspended all team sports activities — except at the college and professional levels — through Jan. 19 due to surging COVID-19 cases.

Local youth sports leagues have shifted into neutral while they wait to see what will happen when Jan. 19 rolls around.

“Right now we are on hold,” Prospect Recreation Director Chris Moffo said.

The Prospect Recreation Department typically offers youth basketball for grades K-12 during the winter at Prospect Elementary School and Long River Middle School.

“We don’t have anything right now, and as far as signups go, everything has been in a holding pattern until further notice,” Moffo said.

Ian Gatavaski, youth development director at the Naugatuck YMCA, said the organization won’t move ahead with the Little Pal basketball season until Jan. 19 the earliest due to the state mandate.

Although youth leagues are in a holding pattern, that hasn’t stopped administrators from planning for what comes next.

Jake Fernandes and Howard Runyon have gotten creative when it comes to planning the season for The Doug Moffat Basketball League in Beacon Falls.

“We are planning on having a season,” Fernandes said. “It just might not look like it has looked in the past. Instead of creating teams and leagues with a set schedule, we are going to a more pick-up game format.”

Fernandes said they decided a less regimented schedule may work out best for everyone since numbers are down and there’s the chance that players may miss games due to being sick. He said the plan is to hold two-and-a-half-hour sessions a couple of nights a week. Sessions will include a fundamental clinic for 90 minutes followed by pick-up games for different age groups.

Fernandes said town and Region 16 school officials have been very supportive of the league and he’s grateful for their backing.

“We can’t thank them enough for all they have done for the youth in this situation,” Fernandes said.

The Naugatuck Basketball Association, also known as the Friday Night League, will move its venue to the former armory on Rubber Avenue, which is now the Naugatuck Recreation Center.

The league typically plays at Hillside Intermediate School in the borough, but had to move to the former armory to finish last season when schools shut down in-person classes in March.

The league is typically started by now, but the goal now is to start tryouts Jan. 19 with games beginning in February, said Kevin McSherry, who oversees the league. When and if the season gets underway, games will be played at the rec center on Thursdays and Fridays.

“It will be a different kind of year with limited practices,” he said. “I didn’t want to be putting any additional pressure using the schools, they have enough to contend with educating the students.”

Everyone is in a wait-and-see pattern, hoping to hear horns and whistles again soon enough.