Uncertainty surrounds Long Beach spring sports

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Hours after completing the opening week of practice March 13, Long Beach High School spring sports coaches met with Athletic Director Arnold Epstein, who informed them the district would be shutting down the following week due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

“I think all the coaches had a feeling of what the meeting was going to be about,” said Rachel Ray, whose 11th season as Long Beach’s girls’ varsity lacrosse coach has taken largely to Instagram. “It’s hard because of all the off-season training the girls put in,” she added. “Our workouts led right into the first week of practice. If we ever do get to play, I know we’ll be ready to go.”

Time isn’t on spring sports’ side, however. Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced schools throughout New York State will remain closed until at least through April 29, this after President Donald Trump extended social-distancing guidelines through the end of the month. Nassau County Executive Director of Athletics Pat Pizzarelli said no decision will be made on spring sports until schools get a green light to reopen.

“We have a small group of seniors, only four, but it doesn’t make it any easier if we end up not playing,” noted Ray, referring to Maggie Reznick, Alexis Palmer, Nuala Rafferty and Hailey Ulhar. “My feelings go back and forth and I’m trying to stay positive,” she added. “I can see a shortened season going deep into June. Or if worse comes to worse, maybe we can get a bunch of teams together and do a summer league.”

Not too long after practice was halted, Ray and several other Nassau girls’ lacrosse coaches, including Robyn Pastuch of Wantagh, collaborated on an idea and began posting daily challenges for team members on Instagram: @lbgirlsvarsitylax with the hashtag #girlslacrosseonlinechallenge.

“We’ve gotten great feedback from the kids and parents,” Ray said. “We mix up the challenges to keep it different. One day it can be a lacrosse skill, one day it can be yoga or mediation. It’s to the point where if it’s not posted early enough in the morning, I’ll get a bunch of texts from the girls asking why it’s not up yet.”

Similar to the girls’ lacrosse roster, Long Beach’s softball team isn’t dominated by seniors but boasts its share. Longtime coach Carmine Verde, a member of the Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame, has All-State selection Katie Frisch, Jillian Domingo, Olivia Caggiano, Elizabeth Zielinski and Ashley Egan.

“I like to be hopeful,” Verde said. “If there’s no season, I’d feel really bad for all the seniors in every sport. It’s their last chance to be on the field and represent their school and community.”

Frisch, who batted .469 with 35 RBIs last season, plans to play at Nassau Community College and study American Sign Language. “I’m honesty not sure if there’s going to be a season,” she said. “It’s upsetting, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Long Beach boys’ lacrosse coach Jason Pearl remains optimistic some form of a season can happen. The Marines have 11 seniors and were looking to make noise in Class B. “I’ve been in constant contact with the guys and we’ve had some chats on Zoom,” Pearl said. “If we don’t get out there, it’ll sting no matter how many seniors we have.”