Thursday was the saddest day in the history of New Hampshire high school sports.

Or at least one could certainly argue that.

It was tough enough in March when the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association had to cancel the remainder of the winter season tournaments. It tried to soften the blow by naming co-champions, runnerups, etc., but that didn’t really erase the fact that the proper closure and celebrations for the winter were never achieved.

But two days ago the NHIAA didn’t just have to cut a season short, it had to wipe out an entire spring campaign and basically end the 2019-20 athletic school year.

Ugh.

It was probably the toughest day for thousands of athletes, their parents and family, coaches, athletic directors, fans in general. And also for NHIAA Executive Director Jeff Collins.

“Yeah, of course,” Collins said from his Concord office Friday. “Anytime you get into the education business, you’re into it for the kids.”

Collins, a former athlete himself, has talked the talk through much of this. It’s not his fault he hasn’t been able to walk the walk. In March, he opted at first to delay tournament events as this was all uncharted territory. He was adamant that every possible effort would be made to finish the tournaments, but the reality of the pandemic forced his and the NHIAA Executive Council’s hand.

And then, after New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu had schools closed until May 4, Collins still was hopeful and pressing for the fact that even if that date got extended, that athletes could play in at least a couple of games, then have open tournaments. It would be important, he said, just to give seniors “the opportunity to put that uniform on one last time.”

As he said, the thinking through both those winter and spring hopes was simple, and not based on some sense of defiance or bravado.

“Don’t we owe it to (the athletes) to do whatever we possibly can to make it work?” he said.

And any effort to do that got squelched Thursday when the schools were shut down for the year. Collins got word, he said, earlier in the week that it was coming.

Collins said he was glad to see that the reaction,while one of disappointment, was one of understanding that safety is the only real goal. “I get it, I know a lot of the kids, while disappointed, get it,” he said. “Heck, we’re trying to make sure people don’t die.”

The spring season for high schools is unique. It is often the busiest of the three, because there are a lot of sports whose season is compacted into time that is barely two months. It can be a nightmare at times for athletic directors with all the reschedulings due to weather postponements. But any AD in the state right now would’ve gladly had a Saturday event to reschedule due to the expected, uh, snow.

Spring is also thought of as a big senior time with prom, graduation, etc., so coaches are always trying to keep their players focused. They’d gladly take on that task now. It’s also a big time, as some coaches have said, for juniors as it’s their time to be seen by colleges.

So that’s what we’ll miss. But now, even more important, the thought now turns to the fall. That’s the next window of hope. And the unknown.

“I’m definitely concerned about it,” Collins said. “To say otherwise would be false. I just don’t know what the fall holds, I wish I did.

“Best case scenario is we can open up in August, get the athletes ready for the chance to play. Worst case scenario – I don’t like to think about it or wait again.”

But throughout, Collins and school officials know it’s not their call.

“I had all those hopes for the spring,” he said. “Now the new hope is that all this will buy us some time to make the face to face education and sports happen in the fall.”

Amen to that.

Tom King may be reached at 594-1251,tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or@Telegraph _TomK.