Whether Covid-19 was part of the picture or not most high school athletes look forward to their senior season. This was not the case for Ella Pardo and Iris Lee. Both of these seniors lost the opportunity to play a majority of their seasons. Lee has been playing tennis for three years, while Pardo has been playing softball for most of her life. 

“My first thought when I found out I had to quarantine was that I had a match that night and I wasn’t going to be able to play,” Lee said.  “I was really disappointed when I found out because I wanted my senior season to be the best one yet.” 

Finding out that they had to quarantine was very shocking for both Pardo and Lee. When the phone rang during Pardo’s class she had a gut feeling that she was the person who was getting sent home. Many emotions filled their heads during this time. 

“When I was quarantined I had a lot of emotional stress,” Pardo said. “I had a lot of anxiety during that time. I never felt sick, but I was very cautious and stayed in my room most of the time.” 

One way to deal with the emotional stress of not playing was to practice by themselves. Senior year is supposed to be the closing chapter and both players thought they lost that, although the seniors were up they kept practicing to try to be ready for their return. 

“I would try to go outside everyday and swing my bat around,” Pardo said. “Everyday I would try to go to the courts and hit serves,” Lee said. “If people were at the courts I would go somewhere else just to be safe.”

The girls shared that being away from the team was hard. Having teammates is one of the most important parts of sports because you are always there for one another.

“When I was gone, GroupMe helped me stay connected to all of my teammates,” Pardo said. “I would also Snapchat and text most of the girls on the team.I would also watch all of the games because they were live streamed.”

Pardo finished her quarantine on September 19, while Lee finished hers on September 17. With the rest of the season almost coming to an end both of them want to make the rest of the season worth it. They are both looking forward to being there for the rest of their season.

“I am definitely going to be looking at the season a different way,” Pardo said. “I want to be present for the rest of the games and not take anything for granted.”