How PVHS Winter Sports Have Been Affected By COVID-19

Cancellations, rule changes and spectator limitations: the recent COVID-19 surge has certainly made its presence felt in professional and college athletics. And now, high school athletes are also experiencing the effects of this Omicron wave. PV’s winter sports have had to deal with some competition modifications, but overall have not felt too much of a difference.

Aside from a few small adjustments, the girls’ soccer season seems to be in full swing.

“There are some new rules like getting a [COVID-19] test before every game if you’re not fully vaccinated but compared to last year everything’s pretty close to normal,” sophomore and soccer player Brette Andrews said. 

If anything, it is turning out to be better than last year’s modified season.

 “Spectators are allowed to come to games and they provide buses to the away games which they didn’t do last year,” Andrews said.

However, on the basketball court, things look a little different.

“Most of us have to get tested one to two times a week, and [at the start of the semester] whenever someone is on the bench, they [had] to wear a mask,” said senior and basketball player Steven Kaufman. 

In addition to testing and masking requirements, our spirited student section initially wasn’t able to attend some basketball games since they are indoors. 

“We have had some spectators at every game so far, but the student section attendance has been limited due to the rules,” Kaufman said. 

“This is too bad, because we play off the energy of the crowd and student section. We could be losing some of the momentum we would have if they were there.”

As things begin to look even more normal each day, hopefully our soccer, basketball, surf and girls’ water polo teams can use the momentum in their favor to finish out the season strong.