Thanksgiving morning is going to look a lot different around the North Shore, and around Massachusetts as a whole. Usually a time where football stadium bleachers are packed with friends, family and alumni, this year there is only silence and memories of games past.
“I just turned 40, and I think this is legitimately the first time I won’t be getting up for a high school football game on Thanksgiving morning in nearly 30 years,” said Lynn Tech football coach James Runner. “From my time as a player with the Classical-English game, to my time coaching at St. Mary’s to now with Tech and KIPP’s budding rivalry, this has always been how Thanksgiving has gone. I can’t even fathom that we won’t be playing.”
The absence of Thanksgiving games is especially hard for the players, some of whom are missing their last chance to play on this special occasion. Sure, there will be games (hopefully) this spring, but playing a rivalry game on Thanksgiving morning is a whole different feeling.
“The Thanksgiving Day game in your senior year, that’s what you dream about and what you work so hard for,” said Bishop Fenwick’s Matt Juneau, a senior captain on the football team. “Thanksgiving is a special day with special traditions in this area for football, and it’s going to be really hard not having any of that this year. There’s just something different about playing on Thanksgiving.”
“It’s a special feeling to play on Thanksgiving, and it’s going to be tough to go without that this year,” said Bishop Fenwick coach Dave Woods, who is also the school’s athletic director. “One of the great things about Thanksgiving is the traditions and the alumni coming back and the former players all returning. It’s a feeling like no other.”
“I feel terrible for the players, especially the seniors, for all of the things they’re missing out on,” said Runner. “The senior traditions, the pep rallies, the team dinner, the varsity jackets, all of that stuff is getting missed out on and it’s tough.”
Coaches are finding it tough to adjust as well, mainly because many haven’t been able to get their teams together for any type of organized practice or scrimmage situations. Now, with the biggest football day of the season set to pass by with no games, it’s hard to reconcile.
“I think since seventh or eighth grade I’ve been getting up and going to football games on Thanksgiving as either a player or a coach,” said Woods. “It’s going to be really strange to not get up early and prepare like we normally would be.”
For everyone involved, the resounding theme is that the hope is for this to be the last Thanksgiving taken away by the pandemic, and now all eyes are turned toward the “Fall Sports II” season.
“We’re moving forward now, and I hope this is the last year we have to go without playing this game,” said Runner. “I’d like to send out a Happy Thanksgiving to all of the coaches and players in Lynn and the surrounding communities, and I hope we’ll see you all next Thanksgiving.”
“We’re super excited for the season coming up, I honestly don’t think we’ve been anticipating anything in our lives more than this season,” said Juneau. “We’ve been doing workouts every day, we talk about it every day and we just can’t wait to get started.”