Dear 7th and 8th Grade Parents,
Understanding how important athletics is for many of our students’ physical, emotional and mental health, we are committed to offering the opportunity for a modified spring sports season to our 7th and 8th grade students. Spring sports traditionally include coed golf, softball, baseball, boys' lacrosse, boys' tennis and girls' soccer. We recognize that there are many complicating factors, including facility logistics, health protocols and family considerations; however, given these limitations, we are hopeful with your partnership, we are able to make MS spring sports work for each of our teams.
Please carefully read and be aware of the following points. Make sure you understand and can make a family commitment to comply with each, before completing the sports interest survey at the bottom. These items are beyond our control and we will not be able to change them or make exceptions.
Due to COVID-19 health protocols created to contain the virus spread, the following are required:
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All athletes will wear a mask at all times, including practices and games
- Screening questions must be answered and temperatures taken with coaching staff before each practice and competition
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Athletes must report positive cases/exposures immediately to Ms. Shipman (rshipman@lncharter.org) and their coach
- Spectator attendance is limited at home contests and may be prohibited entirely at away competitions at the discretion of the hosting team
Also, due to the realities caused by COVID-19, we need our families to understand and carefully consider the following before committing to joining a team:
- Our high school sports have been very successful and we have been able to conduct them so far without any virus spread, however, we have had instances where a coach was quarantined, a team was quarantined, individual athletes were quarantined and competitions were cancelled at the last minute due to the opposing team having been exposed. Middle school parents should also expect that the schedule may not go exactly as planned and they will need to be ready and able to adjust their plans quickly.
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Parents will be responsible for transporting their athlete to and from the practice facilities, most of which are not on LNC's campus, and to and from the competition facilities. There will be NO buses.
- Since we are in hybrid learning, our families will need to drive their student from home to practice on the days their cohort is not learning in school.
- Practice times for many teams will not begin immediately after school, which means there will likely be a period of time between the end of the school day and the beginning of practice during which parents will need to pick up their student and supervise them until practice begins. There will be no study halls at school.
- MS sports compete in the Charlotte-area Independent School conference, which means most of our away competitions are in south Charlotte and most of our games and matches begin late afternoon (4:15 or 4:30 PM).
These are formidable challenges, but we hope that enough of our families can overcome them so we may offer spring sports to our students.
Once you carefully examine the above information and think through the related potential impacts specific to your family that committing to that sport may bring, please complete the sports interest survey and submit it by this Friday, February 12.
Tryouts for middle school spring sports are scheduled to begin the week of February 22. For more information about specific spring sports, please check our website where we will post information as it becomes available. All students who are trying out must register at Family ID and have a sports physical dated within the past 12 months. Please be reminded that athletic eligibility is based on second quarter grades (all grades need to be 70% or higher in all classes). Your student should have brought home his/her second quarter report card either yesterday or today. Keep in mind that third quarter grades are checked in mid-March to ensure all athletes are still eligible. Remember, students who are distance learning cannot play sports.
Thank you for your partnership in helping us try to save the valuable experience that athletics offers many of our students at LNC.
Go Knights!
Sincerely,
