Legal ruling promotes indoor sports
A new California court settlement allows for both outdoor and indoor sports to start. At CVHS, outdoor sports like track and cross country have already started to have meets. As a result of the settlement, the school plans on bringing indoor sports back as soon as possible.
“We are aware of Thursday’s ruling that, when made official, will reopen indoor sports. As of right now, California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is awaiting clarification from California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on several areas of the guidance. Once we get that clarification, we will work as quickly as possible to ensure that all state, county, and district protocols and guidelines are in place to enable indoor seasons to begin,” wrote interim athletic director Don Smith on March 5.
However, indoor sports are considered to be more dangerous. Athletes would be breathing in a small enclosed space, which limits the airflow in the room, increasing the chance of coronavirus transmission.
Junior and badminton player Kaylee Yang believes that the situation still might not be safe enough.
“I don’t really want to go back to school since it’s important to implement actions to slow the spread of the virus, so going back would go against CDC guidelines,” said Yang.
On the other hand there are many students who are willing and excited to go back like senior Sophia Siopack. Siopack and her parents have decided that she will be able to go back — as long as she follows the safety guidelines — since it is her senior year.
“I will definitely go back. I can’t wait to see the rest of the team! We’re already doing Zoom workouts together, but it’s not the same as playing together on the courts. I hope that our whole team will be responsible and considerate of each other, stay socially distanced as much as possible, and keep our masks on. I’m not afraid to reinforce that too,” said Siopack.
If indoor sports begin, the athletes and staff must follow the new guidelines made by the CDPH. This includes daily health screeners, weekly testing, and more.
“It would be nice to have a sense of normalcy,” said volleyball player junior Tyler Iwashimizu.
I agree that sports will be more dangerous in an enclosed space, but at least they are starting again.
Indoor sports are a lot more dangerous because students will be packed closely together and airflow won’t be as good. I hope that we will require everyone to get COVID tests before they come to play to lower the risk of spreading the virus. I hope that in the future we won’t have to wear masks because it is a pain to play intense sports wearing a mask.
Indoor sports are going to be very tricky and as difficult as it might be to do, players will most likely have to keep masks on during these games and matches and also take frequent COVID tests in order to ensure that we aren’t spreading the virus to our friends and family or our opponents. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out and I hope all seniors who play sports get to enjoy it one more time.
I agree that indoor sports can be very dangerous due to its enclosed space. I feel like we will definitely need more procedures like covid tests, masks on while playing, sanitation, etc. I will be going back to school because, like Sophia said, I’m a senior and I’d like to enjoy all the school has to offer before I graduate.