November 1 was the day many athletes dropped their heads in sadness as they heard their seasons were on hold. Despite working so hard for the majority of the fall reason, all fall athletics were cancelled because of the incident over Halloween weekend.  Fortunately, this past Friday, November 6, MIAA updated their rules, allowing FHS athletics to resume as normal!

MIAA added new Risk Levels for each sport. Low Risk sports are those that can take place with social distancing and without physical contact, or can be done individually. This includes tennis, swimming, golf, gymnastics, cross country, and Nordic skiing.

Moderate Risk sports involve “intermittent close proximity” or “incidental physical contact between participants.” This includes baseball, softball, outdoor track and field, indoor track and field, team swimming, volleyball, field hockey, girls’ lacrosse, and soccer.

Higher Risk sports have a “required or substantial likelihood of routine close or sustained proximity” or anything that involves close contact between athletes where particles will be transmitted through participants. This includes football, wrestling, basketball, lacrosse, ice-hockey, and competitive cheer.

In the first week of November, Franklin athletes created a petition to get their season back; it received over 1,300 signatures! Some athletes were even seen protesting outside of FHS on Election Day in hopes of bringing attention to their cause.

Cross Country athlete Sophia Francisco states how at first she was mad because the people at the party “ruined it for the entire teenage population in Franklin.” However, she also feels that on some level it was relieving because it gave her time to “prepare for school.” She was just excited to be back at FHS.

Athletic Director Tom Angelo, Principal Hanna, and Superintendent Sara Ahearn came up with the plan to ensure the safety of fall athletes who wanted their seasons back. They planned to have all fall varsity athletes rapid tested for the virus. Once the results came back all clear, they were set to play.

Franklin’s Girls Varsity soccer was cleared to play and will be having their first playoff game tonight (November 11)!

Want to know more? Here is the link to MIAA’s full update.