Del Norte Sports Return to Play During A Pandemic

After months of not knowing when teams were going to return, many typical fall season sports are returning to campus to practice this February. 

Along with Track and Field, Cross Country, and a few other teams, Del Norte’s field hockey team is among the few selected sports reuniting this season. 

Amanda Patel (‘23) is eager for her first varsity season on the team and hopes to take advantage of this season. Primarily, she wants to improve her skills despite not knowing how much they will get to play. 

Although the traditions that the varsity girls usually partake in every year won’t be occurring, Patel hopes the team can participate in socially distanced team bonding activities to get to know each other.

During the time they had off, Patel took the opportunity to continue practicing her skills on her own with a small group of friends and her older sister. Besides practicing, she used her extra time to focus on school work and try out new hobbies. With activities such as baking, reading, and swimming, she made sure she was not wasting a moment of the time that was replacing the typical field hockey season.

For Paige Dana (‘22), her main aspiration for this season is to do as much as she can as safely as possible. Dana, who has played since her freshman year, never saw field hockey as a chore to fill her time and always found a way to fit it into her 12-hour days. 

Now, given the new virtual environment, she takes advantage of her rare free moments. Dana remarks, “Although I really missed sports, I took advantage of having the time to not do anything.” 

Image Courtesy of Mia Magdarog

Despite the possibility of a shortened season, Dana states,

“Field hockey has always just been a fun part of my everyday life, and I don’t think the pandemic will be able to change that.”