Sports are back: Students weigh in

Mallory Kane, Human Interest Reporter

The Beaverton School District has begun to allow participation in high school sports under the OSAA guidelines. The district has made restrictions, including no full-contact indoor sports and mandatory face coverings. Each team has different adjustments to make, and there is no doubt this year’s practices and games will look unusual. However, the biggest concern this year should be safety. 

I spoke with a few Mountainside students and coaches to get an inside look at what goes on and if they feel safe at practice. I wanted to know what factored into the athlete’s decisions to return, or not return, this year. 

“I feel safe going to practice because everyone is wearing masks, they have a COVID check-in before every practice, and we try to maintain 6 feet all the time at practice,” Parker Groth, a senior on the baseball team, said. “Practice is different because we have to split into smaller groups such as upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, which we haven’t done before. Then we also have to sanitize the baseballs before and after we use them.”

Groth says he doesn’t have anyone at home or that he sees regularly that is considered high risk, which might make him less apprehensive about returning to practice than athletes that do. 

“I feel safe at practice because we wear masks and fill out a form before that asks us questions about who we have been in contact with. However, there is always a risk in going because somebody could be lying about their health.”

Halle Hageman, a junior on the girl’s basketball team, agrees with Groth that she feels safe at practice. However, Hageman acknowledges that some athletes might not be honest about everyone they’ve been in contact with and if they’ve had any symptoms. 

Former cheerleader Maya Nash also had this concern.“I didn’t want to risk my dad getting covid, and practice was not going to be the same anyway, so I decided that it was in my best interests to keep my family safe and not return to cheer this year,” she said. 

Nash seems to not be the only athlete to make this decision. The head cheer coach, Coach Missy, had other athletes reach out with similar reasoning. 

Coach Missy says that she had “athletes not return based on the uncertainty with the season,” and that “it is very unfortunate but completely understandable. This season is unpredictable and not guaranteed.” 

Practices have just started, and there is so much unknown about how each team will progress. Although these are only a few perspectives, it seems like Mountainside sports teams are doing a good job making their athletes feel safe while practicing. “We as a program are doing the best we can and are excited to see what the season has in store,” Coach Missy says.

 

For more sports updates, see the Covid & Sports page.