Editorial Opinion by KOREY DEBEER 2/28/2021
On January 23rd, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made a controversial decision. He announced that high risk high school sports were allowed to return to play: Ice Hockey, Football, Basketball, Volleyball, and Wrestling. Many athletes responded with excitement, because the season was really in jeopardy and in doubt, and for High School Seniors, this meant they would get a last chance to play.
Questions loomed around how, who, when, what are we going to do, and play. Cuomo said that the county board of health must approve it before we can officially start play. Westchester’s Board of Health was on board and the boys basketball team had their first practice/tryout on February 11th. There were strict protocols when playing such as wearing masks, practicing social distancing, temperature checks before you enter the gym and finally filling out a health screener online too. Our school happened to do weekly covid tests for our basketball teams every tuesday for the first two weeks or so, but now they only do half the team from a random sample. If someone tests positive for coronavirus, the season is shut down because of the abbreviated season.
I am on board with this idea of playing during the pandemic, as long as everyone is staying safe and doing everything to refrain from getting the virus. I asked one of my Varsity basketball teammates, Ben Reed, about his experience so far and he shared, “It is going well, we are having practice about everyday, and really it just feels like a real season.” He also says that we are getting the most out of what we can. He believes that with more practice time we could have bonded better, and overall be better. The Boys Varsity basketball coach Brian Prichett was also excited: “The experience has been great, it's been a huge adjustment getting back into the swing of things with limited practice time and a new team. However, it’s truly been a blessing to even have a season; knowing how far we have come with the coronavirus and the sacrifices that have been made by all to move forward.” He also said, like Ben, that less practice time created less chemistry especially with 5 freshmen on the varsity team. Prichett stated that we are making the most out of this unprecedented season. The winter sports season will end the second week of March, and the Fall 2 season which includes Football and volleyball will start about 5 days after this winter season comes to an end.