Longtime Catasauqua resident and administrator Eric Snyder couldn’t recall any direct parallel on how coronavirus has halted athletics, but he did recount a similar one.

In 1992, a teacher’s strike didn’t allow Snyder to coach the boys’ team, and his father and then principal, Frank “Jive,” and brother, Mark coached the team until the matter was settled.

“I was getting phone calls before and after the games,” recalled Snyder. “It was a weird and difficult situation because I had just got the job.

“Something like this is unprecedented. It also reminded me as a kid when I would watch the national news broadcasts about the Vietnam War with the amount of deaths and wounded mentioned every night.”

On April 9, the PIAA officially suspended the remaining basketball championships as well as the spring season. It came after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf closed schools for the remainder of the academic year.

“I feel badly not just for the student-athletes, but for all the students,” said Catasauqua athletic director Tom Moll. “We’re still trying to find a way to have the spring-sport seniors honored in some way, and still try and put something together for the end of the year.”

In conjunction with the athletic directors in District 11, Moll stated that stadiums will turn on their lights Friday night from 7-9 p.m. as a show of gratitude for seniors and first responders throughout the greater Lehigh Valley. The score “20-20” will the score on the scoreboard and a “fourth down and 19” will be the situation.

“We all appreciate what they (first responders) are doing out there,” added Moll. “This is just a crazy time. “We are hoping that we can get back in late summer for the fall sports.

“But we need to take a step-by-step process and do things the right way to make sure everyone is safe.”

Head softball coach Paige Kogelman was confident her team could have an upswing this spring, paced by her three seniors.

“The cancellation of this season has left three senior unable to end their high school softball careers on the field,” said Kogelman, who would have begun her second season. “Joscelyn Acevedo and Maddie Kessler, have known the sport of softball for many years and moving forward will leave a tiny empty spot in their hearts. They were solid teammates and important components to our team.

“Sofia Lopez, was new to softball as of last year but brought promising athleticism and leadership skills with her this year. Their determination and commitment would have only benefited our season. These three seniors have had rough times in Catty softball and this year would have been different with them at the top.

“This year, the team was reformed, bringing better technique, a deeper desire and determination to prove their worth. Unfortunately, these seniors will not be able to lead this team on the field, but they have not stop reassuring the team that though they will be missed the team will be prepared to battle in the next season. This Catty program has come so far in only one year and this obstacle will not halt the progress of this program.”

Head baseball coach Steve Bradley watched the potential of a strong season instantly vanish.

“Because of this mess, my heart goes out to seniors,” said Bradley. “It is hard due to the fact that they can never get this time back. I miss seeing them at practice every day because they were such a nice, fun group of seniors. The shame of this spring is that we had five very good senior baseball players, and I think we could have had a terrific season because they had a lot of support from the underclassmen.”

Head cross country coach Kyle Rusnock also felt a soft spot for his athletes.

“My heart goes out to all of the athletes that will not be able to compete this spring, especially the seniors” said Rusnock. “I am grateful to have had the chance to coach our seniors and good things will come.

“I am also thankful that we started the season off the way we did, as there was tremendous leadership and great team camaraderie. We had many new athletes come out this year and that was due to our upperclassmen.

“I hope everyone stays healthy, and we can get back to working out.”