Keeping Winter Sports in Motion During a Pandemic

Teams are thrilled to start off the new winter season despite new Covid-19 regulations that were put in place to keep everyone safe.

Skiers, however, don’t have to follow these regulations since their sports are outside.

As basketballs hit the court and skates get on the ice, there have been a few major changes to Covid-19 guidelines in order to protect student athletes during their winter sports season. Modifications to these guidelines are based on community transmission (in Windsor County), positivity rates within the students and staff, and instruction from the Consulting District Physician.

Regardless of vaccination status, masks are required to be worn at all times in WUHS buildings, including in locker rooms and on school transportation. If a person refuses to wear their mask, they could lose access to any future events.

The regulations for spectators are meant to comply with the amount of space to be able to practice social distancing. Therefore each WUHS player was given two cards that work as tickets for guests to enter the games. Students and staff may attend but must show their school ID. Visiting fans are allowed to bring two guests and have to give the player’s name so that the number can be kept on a roster. For away games our team must comply with the other school’s rules and regulations.

Hannah Watson, a member of the girls varsity basketball team, said that this year is similar to last year when fans weren’t allowed at games. “Not many people attend girls basketball games,” she notes.

A few games have been canceled and postponed this year due to other teams having a spread of COVID or not enough players. Our team had to cancel a game as well on January 25.

“I feel very claustrophobic when I’m wearing my mask, because with asthma it’s hard to try and keep it on throughout the whole game,” says a player from the JV girls basketball team. Many have complained about the masks and not being able to breathe well during games.

When it comes to game cancellations, players on the girls basketball team have said that it’s frustrating to not have games, “The game cancellations have personally made me not want to play basketball, it sucks when we practice after school to never play in a game,” said Charley Crowley.

On the ice things looked a little different, many people on the team did start to get COVID earlier in the season, causing the team to go into quarantine. “We also had to play with some people out, which is tough because our team is already small,” says senior Skylar Haley. As far as spectators, they have been around the same, although some teams are not allowing any spectators at all.

“I think the rules are good, I just hope they can stay this way,” Skylar also adds “for our school I’m happy where it’s at.”

The good news is that people still have the option to watch the game from home. Go to NFHS Network to watch home games and most away games will also be livestreaming on NFHS Network. To live stream hockey games go to LiveBarn where there will be home games and most away games.