Playing Sports During a Global Pandemic

Grace Clark

2020 has been a crazy year full of uncertainty and madness. It seems as though nothing has been consistent. In an attempt to try and make things resemble life before Covid-19, Davis High School has kept their sports programs open with extra measures and safety precautions to keep their student athletes safe and healthy.
Volleyball was the only indoor fall sport at Davis High. They were able to make it through their whole season without having to quarantine the whole team. According to Sophomore Leah Clark,
“The sophomore team had to quarantine early in the season after one of the girls tested positive. Because of the precautions being taken, and the fact that the sophomore team practices on a different court than JV and Varsity, only the sophomores had to quarantine.”
Some of the safety precautions that the volleyball team had to follow included having a temperature check each day before practice for athletes and coaches. Each athlete and coach also had to fill out an online survey each day regarding any Covid-19 symptoms and if they had been in contact with anyone who had tested positive. Tristin Wallwork, Junior on the volleyball team said
“I definitely think that the precautions worked and were worth it. We had one girl test positive at the beginning of the season but only the Sophomore team had to quarantine. After that it was smooth sailing. At practice, we had to keep masks on until we were on the court ready to play and then put them on as soon as we were off the court. Then at games we would have to wear our masks on the bench but then if we subbed in, we took them off. We didn’t have to wear them on the court but everywhere else we did. We were also pretty diligent at keeping our distance at practices and in school.”
Senior Lauryn Arnold said the girls were all grateful to have a season.
“There were a lot of states that didn’t even get to play High School sports so we were really lucky to have been able to play. It was such a weird season but I am sure I can speak for us all when I say we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to play. Especially the seniors, it wasn’t the senior season we had hoped for but we got to have one just the same.”
In a time when nothing seems to be normal and it seems as though nothing is a constant in daily lives. The one thing that has been able to stay relatively the same is sports. Although there are several changes that have been made to keep student athletes and coaches safe and healthy, the game has stayed the same.