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After the holiday break, student athletes came back to school with a number of unexpected practice and game cancellations due to the rise in COVID cases. From Jan 3-10, every winter sport was only allowed to practice. “It’s not good,” said Women's varsity soccer player Reanna Soltero. “But having the extra time to practice has really helped our team chemistry.” In addition to the cancellations, important new protocols for sports safety were put in place. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that all non-league games for every sport are postponed until after January 31. Along with the cancellation of non-league games, there is now a limit on spectators for basketball games. Only two vaccinated spectators are allowed per player as opposed to the previous gym capacity of 230. Outdoor spectator capacity remains the same. Furthermore, it is now mandatory that every student athlete gets tested at least twice a week. Without testing and a negative result students will not be eligible to participate in practice and games. "Just for this month of January these protocols will allow us to see if there's a decline in COVID cases," said Encinal Athletic Director Leslie Blakley. "The most important thing an athlete can do is wear their mask both on and off the field. If you feel strongly enough to get vaccinated it would definitely help as it cuts down, if your exposed or get COVID, on your time on being away from the team.” Another big change for the athletes is the new masking requirement - it’s now mandatory to wear masks on the field as well as off, for all sports, both indoor and outdoor.
"I don’t really mind it but it’ll be difficult for the players playing because it’s pretty hard to breathe in, especially when we’re tired," said senior basketball player Quinton Rainey. "But I don’t think it’s that bad." From January 3-9, Encinal had 11 positive COVID cases. 36 more positive cases from Jan. 10-14 brought the two week total to 47, an unprecedented number. The uptick in cases is a setback for many of these sports teams. However, many are hopeful for the future, and believe this protocol is a step in the right direction. “What we wanted to do just for this month of January is to see if the COVID cases die down a little bit, and then we’ll be able to go back to where we were,” said Blakely. “We want to have student athletes play and we want to have spectators there, so that’s our hope.”
Isa Anderson contributed to this article.
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