Athletes Take Extra Year in Order to Participate in Sports

This year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic there was a law passed that allows high school students to have another year in school. Calloway County had some students that took the extra year to their advantage. The students include junior Braden Pingel and sophomores Ethan Carson, Jude Bazzell, Bo Stom, Jacob Akin, and Landon Houk.  

Taking the extra year allows the students to get another year of education and sports. Ethan Carson, a member of the boys’ soccer team and the track team said, “the extra year allows me to get another year of education that I missed out on because of the pandemic. It also intrigued me because I get another year of soccer and track.”  

Landon Houk a member of the boys’ soccer team and the boys’ basketball team went through an injury at the end of last year and throughout the summer. Due to the injury, Landon believes, “the extra year allows me to get the year that I will miss because of my injury. Also due to COVID, I was not able to get the education that I wanted, and the extra year will allow me to get a better education.” Many people across the county have dealt a similar situation and now they will be able to take advantage of the extra year to refine their athletic skills and review educational content.  

Braden Pingel, a member of the baseball team at the high school, “I felt like the extra year would benefit me because I missed my whole Sophomore baseball season due to COVID-19. Missing that year hurt my development as a player, and I felt that I could take this extra year to my advantage. I feel like being back in school as a Junior again allows me to learn all of the things, I missed last year to being online.” Everyone in the state of Kentucky missed their 2019-20 baseball season due to COVID-19, and this allows them to get the year that they missed back.