UNION, N.J. — At high schools across America, senior night is bittersweet even in the best of times. This year, it became just another milestone, alongside senior proms and graduation ceremonies, erased from the calendar by the coronavirus pandemic.
The exceptional few graduating seniors will get to continue their athletic careers in college. The majority will not. For them, senior night is often a powerful mix of memories, achievements and friendships, a final hour or two to cap years invested in competitive athletics.
But how do you celebrate a final season that never happened?
“Every high school kid looks forward to their senior year being the best one out of all four,” said Andrew Sanborn, the starting quarterback at Union High School in New Jersey, who was looking forward to one more baseball season before heading off to play college football.