Everyone has felt the effects of the Coronavirus, but it has especially impacted athletes at all levels.

As all sports were brought to a halt by COVID-19, some high school athletes had their seasons cut short during the most important stretch of the season, while many more lost their seasons entirely.

This includes the Tyrone’s girls varsity basketball team, one of the last eight AAA teams in the state still in the hunt for a state championship.

“We were on a roll. we made it to the elite 8 and we were expecting to continue and make a trip to Hershey, but unfortunately we couldn’t do that,” said senior basketball player Lindsay Fusco.

Not only has COVID-19 ended the girls basketball season, spring sport athletes were not able to even start the season this year.

“We had big expectations this year. Our goals were to beat Bellwood, win the Curve Classic, the Mountain League, Districts, and make a run in states,” said standout baseball senior Kevin Lehner, “Sadly our season didn’t start but I believe the underclassmen will accomplish next year what we wanted to accomplish this year.”

Not only have high school sports been cancelled for the remainder of the year, many professional sports seasons are on hold indefinitely.

Lebron James is one of the professional athletes taking a hit financially. James loses approximately $400,000 each time that the Los Angeles Lakers do not play a game. Due to the revenue that Lebron James brings in, this $400,000 is not a huge financial blow to him individually, but there are others, especially those that made their living working at the arenas and stadiums that may lose their entire livelihood.

Many minor league baseball players are taking a huge hit financially. Some players are unable to pay their housing or food expenses. The MLB has already pledged to give funds to the minor league players to help them through this crisis.

Another industry that has had to make changes is the NFL. The NFL has decided to hold a virtual draft. Each team will make their draft decision from their home, and league commissioner Roger Goodell will be announcing each team’s pick from his home.

This decision affects some of the NFL’s future stars because unlike most highly projected draft picks being able to walk across the stage when their name is announced, these players will have to watch their name be announced on TV.

Joe Burrow who is projected to be the number one pick coming out of LSU shared his disappointment on “The Big Podcast with Shaq.”

“I was really looking forward to walking that stage, walking that red carpet, hearing my name called,” said Burrow, “But I think being at home with my family is going to be just as good. Being drafted is being drafted. I don’t really have any plans yet because I don’t really know what it’s gonna look like. Right now I’m planning on just sitting on my couch with my parents and watching it on TV, I guess.”

This pandemic has impacted athletes on all levels of the game. Athletes have lost jobs, money, sports seasons, and goals.

Although athletes cannot be on the field, court, track they can still appreciate the moments they shared with their teams and goals they have already reached as individuals.

For all the high school senior athletes reading this, you will be missed. But remember you have so much bigger things ahead of you to accomplish on and/or off the field.