A variety of youth sports leagues in Charlestown are carefully trying to figure out what will become of the summer and the fall – whether they can play games or whether they should call off the seasons for the sake of safety.
It’s not an easy decision, and league leaders throughout Charlestown have been meeting with one another to figure out how to proceed in a unified way, they said.
Charlestown Little League President Cathy Reese said they are relying on information from the national Little League organization. On Tuesday, they sent out guidance calling on all Leagues to follow the suggestions of their local governments. The guidance is not to start before May 11, but with Gov. Charlie Baker’s extension of the shutdown to May 18, the local league will probably look to start a bit later, if at all.
The organization is giving more thorough updates in early May, Reese said.
“Since the Governor has extended the stay-at-home order until May 18, we cannot begin our season on May 11,” she said. “We will wait and see what the Mayor and Governor say regarding when we can lift mitigation measures before we commit to opening our season. Our hope is to have an abbreviated season this summer, but that will depend on the recommendations from our local health authorities.”
The same is true for Charlestown Girls Softball, which is hoping to get its spring season underway at some point. They are still looking for players at all levels for the season, and are fairly hopeful to be able to play their summer season starting in late June.
Charlestown Soccer (CYSA) has not officially cancelled their spring season, but they have agreed with other teams that they wouldn’t be playing.
“Officially we have not called the season,” said Soccer President Allen Reitz. “That being said, a couple of weeks ago, all Town presidents in our league (Middlesex Soccer League) voted to cancel the Spring season. With Gov. Baker’s announcement Tuesday, which we were waiting for, I believe Mass Youth Soccer will notify all towns about canceling the Spring Season. While we are upset about the cancelled season, we know that this is the right decision.” CYSA is planning to send a note to all spring registrants about the option of transferring their registration payments to the fall season, or donating their registration payment to both The Harvest on the Vine and The Kennedy Center, or request a full refund.
Charlestown Lacrosse did not immediately respond to a request on the matter, but other league leaders said they had heard lacrosse had cancelled its activities.