Students’ Perspectives on the Return to School Sports at Del Norte

Towards the end of the second trimester at Del Norte, many student athletes were offered the chance to play their sports on high school teams once again. 

According to NBC San Diego, on February 19, 2021, San Diego Superior Court Judge Earl H. Maas III declared a temporary restraining order that disabled the right of county officials to shut down youth athletes who are following COVID-19 guidelines similar to those of college and professional athletes. This court case has allowed all high school athletes to return to safely playing their sports at school. Shortly after, the verdict was approved by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) as the Los Angeles Times reported. Del Norte then kickstarted the seasons of its many sports programs.

Morgan Link (‘23), a player on the girls JV volleyball team, says that the quick return to high school seasons involved lots of uncertainty. Link attributes this to the schedule that could change at any moment due to unexpected COVID-related complications. All teams in the league are testing their players once a week before games, and a positive test of any member results in cancelled matches and quarantine procedures.  However, Link also said that the players and coaches at the school are talented; she knew her time would be well spent playing and learning with them. 

Although her season would only be four weeks, Link believes that it was worth playing, despite its brevity. Link also says she views this season as a chance to regain some normalcy and represent her school, remarking that her whole team has been “ determined to make the most of the season” and that both the players and coaches have been constantly energetic and supportive.

Another student athlete, Jamie Smargon (‘23), is a cheerleader on the JV cheer team for Del Norte. She said that her team had been practicing virtually since August 2020 and had begun to conduct in person practices with masks and social distancing on October 5, 2020. Even with coronavirus guidelines in effect, Smargon said that getting to play sports in person has a positive effect on both her mental and physical health.

In addition, Smargon said that only 4 spectators per player are allowed at the games due to coronavirus safety guidelines. She also said that the cheerleaders are grateful for the chance to play their sport this year.

Naomi Shannon (‘23) plays on the JV soccer team. She said her season is about 7 weeks long, beginning the week of Monday, March 23. Even with such little time in the season, Shannon said playing high school soccer is still worth it because it is competitive but still less stressful than club soccer. Shannon said that the players can not be socially distanced because soccer is a contact sport, but they do have temperature checks and are required to wear masks.

“Going from not seeing anyone to being with a big crowd of people was overwhelming, but still fun,” Shannon said.

This year, no one was cut from the soccer teams, which means there is a higher number of soccer players on each team than there were last year. Shannon said it was hard to get used to being near people at first after COVID-19 guidelines had enforced social distancing for so long. Despite recent protocol changes, Shannon said she still enjoys playing soccer at school.

Works cited:

News stories about court case: San Diego Judge Rules on Return of High School Sports – NBC 7 San Diego (nbcsandiego.com) ; Settlement to allow high school sports to resume in California – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com) Interviews: Return to School Sports Article Prep