Since the schools closed on March 16 and students are now distance learning from home, putting the spring sports season on hold, there hasn’t been any sports news we could reliably publish on a regular basis, leaving our sports pages empty.

But that is changing this week.

Just because our local school teams aren’t competing — baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, golf and lacrosse — it doesn’t mean athletes of all ages aren’t staying active. People are outside — walking, running, hiking, bicycling — practicing social distancing while exercising.

But it’s more than exercise, isn’t it? For students, it may be about a physical education requirement from their gym teachers. For athletes, it may be about conditioning, honing their skills or training for an upcoming running race or triathlon.

Sadly, for high school seniors who expected to compete one last time before graduation, their academic sports careers are over, unless they move on to college teams. Who would have known that their junior year on the varsity team was their last chance to make lasting memories, set a record or prove themselves worthy of a college sports scholarship?

Now that the sports page is back in the Lake Placid News, we’re asking athletes of all ages to send us photos of you doing athletic things — running, hiking, biking, training, playing catch with a family member, etc. Include information about your sport, how long you’ve been doing it, your sports goals for the future. Send submissions to Editor Andy Flynn by email at news@lakeplacidnews.com. Include your city of residence and phone number in case we have questions.

Let’s celebrate sports and fill up the sports page once again with our local athletes doing what they love. It’s such an important part of our community, especially here in Lake Placid, where sporting events are often front-page news and they add millions of dollars annually to the local economy.

Until our society opens up again, this is our new normal — a DIY sports page.