Because the spring sports season has been cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, senior athletes aren’t able to participate in a hallmark of high school – senior night. To make up for that, head athletic trainer Heather Murphy made a video to provide a virtual senior night experience.

Murphy had senior spring athletes fill out a questionnaire with information that would usually be shared on senior night, and compiled the answers into a video that is now posted on Instagram and Twitter. In this video, she included the clubs seniors participated in as well as sports they played in other seasons.

“I know most TJ students feel the pull between academics and athletics, so I think it’s important that your clubs are read and what your contributions were to TJ society outside of athletics. You’re not just an athlete, you’re a student-athlete,” Murphy said.

Murphy mourns the loss of senior night alongside spring athletes and hopes this video will reduce that loss.

“It just sucks for everybody involved in TJ that we don’t get a chance to acknowledge these really deserving student athletes. So my heart breaks a little bit for the class of 2020. Seniors still need a voice to share what is usually recognized on senior night,” Murphy said.

On a typical senior night, seniors would receive plaques and gifts, and walk out with their families before the game to share their thank you’s and future plans. 

“We all would have been able to come together as a class, [something we] haven’t really ever had the chance to do before,” varsity baseball player senior Jae Canetti said.

Before the first game of the season, a part of Canetti knew that a coronavirus cancellation was inevitable – that this might be his last game ever.

“I went crazy that game. I had a whole varsity bucket list of different achievements I wanted to make on varsity, and I basically did all of them in one game,” Canetti said. 

That’s why Canetti’s grateful for the closure Murphy’s video gives.

“She’s been the one to see us through all of our highs and our lows, and she’s the one you go to when you’re completely down or you can’t walk,” Canetti said. “Seeing how invested she’s been in our athletes has really just been impressive to me.”