As we all know many things are far from normal during these times. From wearing masks to social distancing, many guidelines and precautions have been put in to keep us safe. At the same time this has been hard to continue with sports. As we’ve seen in the professional level returning to play is not as easy. Without the resources of the professional and college level, high school sports is not nearly as easy to return to for some states.
In the state of California, where the article focused on, athletics seasons were pushed back tremendously. The typical high school football season starts in the fall, but in California the pandemic has forced their season during to start during the winter/ spring season. For sports like basketball, they have no indication yet of when it could start back up.
The article from the LA Times, Ask Sondheimer: You have high school sports questions, he has answers, Eric Sondheimer asnswers a few commonly asked question giving some potential solutions to returning to high school athletics in California, and maybe in other states that have similar problems. Like other states, California is following the same testing protocols and guidelines. This will be implemented with sports like football and water polo which is starting back up. But, for basketball and volleyball, and idea of playing outdoors is in the conversation. When asked if there will be outdoor basketball and football, Sondheimer answered “Probably. Several schools have created outdoor courts for basketball and volleyball while waiting to see when indoor sports might be approved.” which is something we have never seen before.
