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School closures could create complications for college-bound seniors looking to continue athletic careers

If I had my way, my eldest daughter Emily Lewis would attend a local college or university. At least I&rsquo;d have peace of mind as a father that she would be in the area, close to home, and I&rsquo;d be able to see her play soccer.
				Not two to three hours away &mdash; like Ithaca College or Gettysburg College &mdash; and especially not five hours away like Slippery Rock University. 
				Those are Emily&rsquo;s choices of schools to date.
				As Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday ordered schools to remain closed for the remainder of the school year, I as a soccer coach and the parent of two student athletes am left only with hope &mdash; hope that this coronavirus goes away as quickly as it struck so school can eventually resume and student athletes can hit the field once again.
				As a father who played sports in high school but was lazy at actual school work, I&rsquo;m fortunate my daughters, Emily and Stephanie, have excelled in their academics and lucky they have great educators at Hanover Area Jr./Sr. High School. It has also been a great joy watching them and their teammates compete on the soccer field.
				What is unfortunate is that the athletic ID clinics and camps hosted by colleges and universities being canceled or postponed.
				Emily will have another year as she is a junior and Stephanie is a sophomore. But I feel for today&rsquo;s high school seniors, especially those whose spring sports have come to an abrupt end, may feel cheated and lost.
				Earlier this year, Emily and I traveled to Ithaca College in New York for a women&rsquo;s conference she wanted to attend. The conference was coordinated by a Cornell University professor who also works for NASA, instructing those in attendance how supplies are sent to the International Space Station.
				I actually learned from the women&rsquo;s conference there is an actual science to how space items, such as solar panels as big as a football field, are folded and fitted into the size of a shoebox in order to be sent to the space station.
				A week after the women&rsquo;s conference and a walking tour of Ithaca College, we also returned the following weekend for a soccer ID clinic. With three feet of snow on the ground and wind chills near zero, I was surprised Emily liked Ithaca.
				Emily is a goalie for the Hanover Area varsity girls soccer team that I coach, and she wants to play at the next level.
				On a weekend last July, we drove to Slippery Rock University near the Ohio border for Emily to participate in their soccer ID clinic and hope to do it again this summer.
				And we took an official visit at Gettysburg College in February and planned to return last weekend for their soccer ID clinic but it was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19.
				We can agree this COVID-19 has changed the way we live, shop, work and interact with one another. For how long, it&rsquo;s anyone&rsquo;s guess.
				How will it impact fall sports for high schools and colleges remains unknown.
				As we all pray for life to return to normal or near normal, I as a father and a soccer coach can&rsquo;t wait to get the student athletes back on the field to compete.
				And I know like Emily and all other seniors next school year no matter what sport they play, they can&rsquo;t wait either.

First Person: Desire to coach and visit colleges with daughter thwarted by pandemic