Football, cross country, girls swimming, boys golf and other fall sports that took place this season finished without any interruptions. Even though lineups had to change due to COVID-19, the seasons were not stopped.
As winter sports begin, many protocols are to be put in place for athletes such as mask requirements, social distancing when possible and cleaning of equipment. However, many of these sports involve physical contact, increasing the risk for the spread of the virus. Also, many of these sports have raving fan bases, calling for large crowds.
Senior wrestler Sid Sharma explained, “As a senior and captain of the wrestling team, I plan to not wrestle this year, because I am touching and grabbing someone all the time. I have family members who are high risk individuals.”
Wrestling is one of the biggest sports in winter and is one where socially distancing is not viable. This can lead to potential risk of spreading among students. Senior Taze Wilson’s article about the specific changes to wrestling shows the number of transformations the program has had to go through to make the high risk sport more safe. Protocols such as wiping and sanitizing are being emphasized so much in a contact heavy sport.
In addition, basketball has many risks this season. As fans move to indoor games, there can be limited space for spreading people out, leading to congested games as junior JT Muzalski explained. “If the school allows fans into the games, it is going to be packed, because the football stadium is outside and there is fresh air circulating,” he said. As of now, nothing is definite regarding the status of fan attendance, but if fans are allowed, the school has to look for ways to limit crowds.
Furthermore, COVID-19 cases have been rising in the recent weeks. As cases are rising, winter sports are in potential risk for being changed. Senior Alex Clemons described, “I don’t even know what is going to happen with regular school, because of the cases. Even more, the sports are very open to change right now.” With this much uncertainty regarding the future of school learning, winter sports are very much in position to be shortened or even cancelled.
This season, the school has taken many precautions regarding social distancing players and fans. Each athlete will receive two vouchers, limiting the number of people in the stands. Players will be required to wear masks when not playing, decreasing the amount of exposure.
Winter sports are very exciting, as for the past years, a large number of students have attended the events. With the changing situation of COVID-19, students can expect multiple changes happening to each sport.
