Written by Kayla Lammers (Sports Writer)
School sports are an important part of going to school, it’s a way to bond with friends and be part of a community. With coronavirus sports all over the world have been canceled, and the most local example is that of our school.
I was able to talk to Christopher Coulson, the sports director, and P.E. teacher.
The back and forth debate and worry, are how to keep the kids safe but let them play. “Myself and all our staff very much want there to be high school sports this year but only if they can be held in a manner that is safe for all the participants and the community,” said Mr. Coulson.
My thinking, as well as plenty of others, is that all though the staff has to keep everyone safe, why put kids and then their families at risk? Would our sports start as soon as we get approval, or would it be postponed until a vaccine is out? “Right now the state of California is still working on a plan. We hoped to have it the week of 11/16 but there was no new information released so we are still working under the existing guidelines. Under the existing guidelines, there are not CIF high school sports allowed. We are hopeful that we will be getting new guidelines from the state of California that will allow high school sports to be contested in a responsible and safe manner.”
To give anyone the opportunity to play a sport that would have been played during the fall, the seasons are now being mushed together. Girls basketball, for example, was scheduled to start December 14th, but is now scheduled for April “Basketball schedules are made way in advance. Our coach was already making his schedule for this year well before the coronavirus became an issue in March and part of it was out up on the website. Since that time, basketball season has been moved to the second season of the year so some new dates were added.”
The fear of coming into contact with the virus is on most of our minds, is it worth the extra risk for students to play sports. I understand the rush and the hopefulness, but if COVID 19 came through the valley, the effects would be devastating. Cases go down because people are staying at home, as soon as things open up because there are fewer positive cases, that’s when people start getting sick again. It’s a cycle of being safe, seeing numbers go down, and then not being safe.
The Claw 