To whom it may concern,
My name is Ellie Hilsabeck and I am one of three senior captains on the lacrosse team at
Notre Dame Academy. I am writing this letter to you on behalf of many senior captains from
schools including NDA, Westwood, Needham, Norwell, Cohasset, Bridgewater-Raynham,
Concord-Carlisle, Franklin, Rivers, Nobles, Lincoln-Sudbury, Ursuline, and Hingham. It is also
on behalf of many other seniors, players, fans, and lacrosse families of numerous towns. I hope
you are staying safe during this unprecedented time. We know it has been very difficult to make
decisions regarding spring sports and we greatly appreciate the constant updates from the MIAA.
As you make your final considerations this Monday, March 30​th ​about the 2020 season, we
wanted to share with you how many seniors are feeling at the moment.
Every senior this year has lost almost everything we look forward to in our final spring of
high school. We have lost most of our final weeks of classes and proms, senior traditions, and
celebrations have been cancelled across the state. There is even talk of our high school
graduation being cancelled. With these events gone comes the consequences of losing memories
and lessons we would take with us to college and beyond. Having worked for countless hours for
four years of high school to get all the way to this point and have precious moments and
unforgettable days involuntarily stripped from us is devastating beyond words.
Just as in school, many high school senior athletes have been working tirelessly for four
years to reach their full potential and be given the opportunity to lead their team. We have been
preparing for the start of this season since our last games last year. All of us can agree that
ending our high school careers without playing out our highly anticipated senior season would be
agonizing and something we would never forget. We have lost close to everything seniors

 normally work towards and look forward to. Now we ask you to please not take away one of the
final things we have to hold on to from this senior spring, something that we have been looking
forward to for years.
We all understand much of this is out of anyone’s control and that safety is of the upmost
priority. As of now, we are hoping to return to school on May 4​th​. With that in mind, we want to
propose an idea that we have thought through and, from a player’s standpoint, what we believe is
an ideal way to approach the season. We want to vouch for a seven-week season starting May 4​th
and ending at the current mandatory cut-off date June 20​th​. The first week, the week of May 4​th​,
would be designated for tryouts and preseason play. The following four weeks would be the
regular season, starting the week of May 11​th​ and the final week being the week of June 1​st​. Then,
the postseason would be the remaining two weeks up to the cutoff date June 20​th​. However, to
take full advantage of the time we may have, if a team did not qualify for the postseason, that
team would be able to continue to schedule scrimmages with other teams up until June 20​th​.
Similarly, when a team is eliminated from the postseason, they would be entered into a
consolation bracket and continue play until June 20​th​.
In the past couple of weeks, everything has been constantly changing, including deadlines
and starting dates. We recognize that is always a possibility that the dates change again and that
our proposed plan would no longer be ideal or fit in the time frame. However, if that becomes the
case, we sincerely ask that there could be open minds in considering a creative solution that still
allows us to play rather than a full cancellation of the season all together. For example, if the
school start date were to be pushed out further, we would ask it to be considered that you extend
and go beyond the set cut off date of June 20​th​ to allow us to play our suggested schedule. We

 know us along with our families, teammates, and coaches would be more than willing to play
past the cut-off date and into the summer. As said before, spring lacrosse is something we all
cherish and look forward to during the whole year. Any type of normalcy in a time like this
would mean the world to us all. No matter what happens, we greatly hope that you will consider
setting a schedule unique to this situation rather than completely cancelling our spring season.
We appreciate you taking the time to read this letter. Please consider how important our
season is to us and how much we want to salvage any part of senior spring as this is a time we
will never get back, but also remember it forever. Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Ellie Hilsabeck
Cara Charette
Maggie Coughlin
(Notre Dame Academy)
Margaret Noble
Sarah Roycroft
Morgan Hughes
(Westwood High)
Becca Gill
Maddie Majernik
Caroline Higgins
(Nobles)
Sophie Spaulding
Ellen O’Donnell
Ellie Foley
(Scituate High)

Maeve Johnson
Abby Godwin
Abby Krahmer
Ali Gill
(Duxbury High)
Molly Greer
Maddie Donovan
(Cohasset High)
Annabelle Hasselback
Brooke Nelson
(Rivers)
Lilly Callahan
Elena Oberle
(Needham High)

Erin Walsh
Gianna Cameron
(Franklin High)
Casey Ward
Kylee Horlbeck
Allie Connerty
Maeve Mckinley
(Norwell High)
Kate Farley
(Ursuline)
Caroline Davis
(Lincoln-Sudbury)
Fallon Vaughn
(Concord-Carlisle)

 Gina-Marie Riciotti Audrey Ehler
(Bridgewater-Raynham) (Hingham High)