COVID HAS SPORTS OUT OF SORTS

Over the past year and a half, high school games sports have made a tremendous amount of changes. People now show up to games wearing masks in the bleachers but still athletes can hear the team spirit in the crowd. Just because the crowd has to wear a mask, doesn’t mean that students aren’t full of Greenway Demon spirit.

“Covid had messed up my mental health,” Freshman Ricky Valdez said. Valdez also said that he started practicing before football season began. “The teamwork has been a little weird because we’ve been with just ourselves,”said Valdez.

According to Jon Solomon’s article ¨High school students worry about COVID-19, still wanna play sports” in Aspen Project Play, two-thirds of high school students expressed their concern that they could catch or transmit COVID-19 through sports participation. However, most students said their interest to play sports remained the same or in some cases has even grown over the past year.

“Yes, covid has made me want to quit because they’ve been canceling our games due to covid so it’s just like, what’s the point?” Freshman Cadence Crawford said. “I feel like there should be less caution taken because we’re not having any games,” Crawford said. According to the article “Tracking Coronavirus in Arizona: Latest Map and Case Count” from The New York Times, there has been 10,000 cases of covid and only 69% that are 12 and up have gotten vaccinated.

“Covid has never made me want to quit,” Freshman John Lopez said. “I think the precaution for covid is fine right now, but I also feel like all athletics should get the vaccine just to be safe,” Lopez said.

In Evan Webeck’s article “Vaccinated vs. unvaccinated: How California’s COVID rules are making a difference in high school sports” in Mercury News, students could be in close contact with covid at practice or in the classroom where many students are coming back to school.

 “I think that there should be less precaution taken and that covid is the same thing as the flu just a different name,¨ Freshman Calley Wilmon said.  According to Nick Sturdivant’t article “Cary high school football players wearing face coverings during games as coaches work to keep students safe” in CBS 17,  there are 10-minute periods on how they schedule practice. They keep the kids separated — JV and varsity. So, if they ever have an issue, both teams don’t have to go down.

Is this a strategy that Greenway should try for our football team? Maybe this could work for all sports as well.