As summer progressed, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to fill many college students with great uncertainty about their upcoming semesters. For student-athletes playing a fall sport, this uncertainty was particularly pressing. Even after it was announced that the 2020 fall season would be canceled, senior athletes like Cat Gambino ’21 and Syd Kim ’21 of the Hamilton Women’s soccer team, still faced a daunting question: do I stay at home for the semester or do I return to the Hill?
Ultimately, the two seniors decided on different paths as they thought hard about what they wanted to do for their senior fall semester. Gambino, the senior (now fifth year) forward from Westbury, New York, decided against returning to campus so she could have the opportunity to play one more season with the squad in the fall of 2021. “All summer I had planned to come back to campus, even if the season was canceled. But, when the decision came out I realized how upset I would be if I didn’t play for my last season and how big of role soccer plays in my happiness,” Gambino said. “I spoke to my friends, parents and coaches, who helped me make the very difficult decision to not return for the fall. I wanted to be back with my friends, but I knew that I would regret passing up the opportunity to play one more season.”
“I guess my decision to not return didn’t really sink in until around August when everyone was heading back to school. Not having the excitement of games and practices to look forward to really made it sink in for sure,” Gambino continued. “Though I miss my teammates, I don’t regret my decision and I look forward to hopefully being able to finish out my career and play on Love field one last time next fall. I am able to do workouts and work on shooting at the field at my high school, so I don’t think I will fall behind too much.”
Unlike Gambino, Kim, a senior forward from Aldie, Virginia, decided to come back to the Hill so she could finish out her senior year on time. “We first heard that the season was canceled when we received an email followed by a zoom meeting with our coach. I felt a mixture of a few emotions. I felt sad, disappointed, and ultimately there was a level of confusion despite convincing myself all summer that we wouldn’t have a season. Getting that confirmation was definitely upsetting,” said Kim. “Though it was upsetting and confusing, I knew I wanted to be on campus with friends–even if it meant seeing them in a socially distanced manner–as well as attend in-class lectures. I didn’t find this decision to be too difficult.”
Kim and the other seniors who decided to return to campus this semester collectively decided against practicing. “Because of the circumstances, the senior class has decided not to partake in soccer training with the team,” she stated. “I did, however, have the chance to walk on to the basketball team at Hamilton last year, so I’m hoping that there will be some form of a winter season so I can play a sport at Hamilton one last time.”
Though the two seniors will not be able to see each other face-to-face, they still are able to keep in touch and FaceTime frequently. “I still talk to Syd, the other seniors, teammates, and coaches regularly,” said Gambino. “As of now, I will be back on the Hill in the spring so I’m excited to have one more semester with my senior friends and my other teammates. Hopefully, the campus can continue to be COVID free, so Syd and I (mainly Syd) can have a fun ‘senior’ spring on the Hill.”