By: Kiley Langford
Sports have been pushed back leaving athletes with nearly three extra months before their seasons will begin, some see this as a good thing but others see this as a setback.
Schools have shut down, for the time being, in order to remain safe and keep students healthy. Many schools across the nation have embraced online learning. Sports have also been postponed to a later date. CIF has made an alternate schedule for this year’s sports, considering the circumstances. Although athletes are forced to wait a couple of months, there is a set schedule for sports to resume in December.
Senior athlete, Isabelle Gendron, ‘21, was relying on her 2020 water polo season to help her finalize her future. She was hoping that this season would help her decide what her years after high school would look like. As of now, although there may be a tentative schedule, sports are in the air. But, Gendron feels extremely uneasy about this.
She says, “The postponement of this year’s season has been a really major setback, there’s no water polo and it keeps looking like there’s going to be less and less of a chance for sports to start back up.”
Although Gendron has been training at home, the postponement of sports has been a challenge for her. It has affected her preparation for college and she says “it’s been a major disappointment.” Her future is left in the hands of a senior year water polo season that may not even happen.
Seniors have so many special moments during their senior sports seasons, but they may never get these experiences if sports do not return for this school year.
On the flip side, junior athlete, Gavin House, ‘22, believes the extra months have been a good thing. House says “I see it as an advantage because the real athletes will keep working through this quarantine.”
House has used the extra time to improve in all aspects of being an athlete. He has been “working out almost every day, playing soccer, playing football, and lifting.”
Instead of allowing the push back of sports to negatively affect House, he has taken the situation into his own hands. Once sports return, House will be ready and his hard work will show on the field. House says the work will show “not just for me but for everybody who’s been working.”
Freshman athlete, Hunter Buckles, ‘24, has the same mindset as House, despite being an incoming freshman. Freshman year alone is a scary time, not including sports. With everything that is going on, Buckles has had to adapt. But he has not let this affect him, rather motivate him.
Buckles plans on coming into Redwood and being a three sport athlete. He says “I see sports being shut down from Covid-19 as an advantage. It gives me time to train and prepare my body for what’s going to come up in the upcoming seasons.”
As a freshman, juggling football, basketball, and baseball on top of school is going to be a hard task. This would have also been his first opportunity to compete in high school competition.
Buckles has used the extra time to train his body for his first high school sports seasons. Not only has he improved physically, Buckles stresses the importance of having the right mentality. He has been taking the extra months to improve his “mental state” as well. In the time to come, Buckles will continue to train to maximize his performance in all of the sports he plays.
Buckles and House have chosen to use the extra months to benefit their performance. And although Gendron has been working, she has faced some major challenges from the push back.
Many athletes have been forced to adapt to the circumstances the virus has brought. Each and every athlete has their own opinion on how they view the push back of sports, and what they are doing as a result. Buckles and House are few of many athletes that have taken the extra time to improve themselves.
On the other hand, athletes like Gendron, are worried about the push back affecting future plans. Every situation, point of view, and reaction is unique just like the year of 2020.
Tags: covid-19, sports, student athlete