Some seniors at Aragon are beginning their final seasons of sports as school athletics have started, albeit with social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines. Beginning the week of Jan. 19, several Aragon sports including swim, cross country, football and tennis were able to begin practicing for the upcoming season, but some may not be able to compete depending on the tier the county is in. Plans for competitions vary according to sport, and competitions for girls tennis, girls golf, swimming and cross country and scheduled to begin in February.
Since Jan. 20, swim has started practicing three times a week in separate groups. Senior Alicia Gregory has been on Aragon’s swim team since her freshman season. Reflecting back on her high school swim experience, Gregory has many fun memories from both the competitive aspect of the sport as well as end-of-season parties.
“I just like how [swim] can be an escape from everything else,” Gregory said. “When I’m swimming, I’m not really thinking about my schoolwork or my other extracurriculars. [I’m] just thinking about this set.”
With new changes in the way sports are being played, some athletes have decided to simply not play due to safety concerns. In Gregory’s case, she is happy to participate in sports in person despite the changes brought on by COVID-19.
“It’s not the same as the traditional team experience, but I’m just feeling appreciative that we can still swim even with everything that’s going on,” Gregory said.
Because San Mateo County is in the purple tier, the reopening of sports has faced a lot of criticism and obstacles. Several practice cohorts in November were cancelled due to growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 and new California Interscholastic Federation regulations. However, sports practices were recently given the green light to resume. Due to more relaxed sports restrictions, namely larger groups of people being allowed in facilities, some families are still uncomfortable going back on campus and participating in group activities even with social distancing protocols in place. In survey data presented to the district board on Dec. 3, out of 3,837 San Mateo Union High School District family members and students, 39.5% preferred continuing distance learning compared to 45.8% who preferred to return.
“When I’m swimming, I’m not really thinking about my schoolwork or my other extracurriculars. [I’m] just thinking about this set.”
“With the proper precautions, I think [practicing] is totally fine and acceptable as long as people are wearing masks during the appropriate times and trying to social distance as best they can,” Gregory said.
Similarly, senior tri-athlete Blaine Reynolds, who has participated in basketball, cross country and track in his high school career, has enjoyed the competitive aspects of being a student-athlete.
“My favorite thing was getting to compete against other schools, especially [in] playoffs where [we] got to compete [against] schools across the state,” Reynolds said.
Although there have been many challenges due to the pandemic, students have acknowledged the difficulties of reopening sports but have also stayed optimistic and grateful for the chance to participate despite these changing circumstances.
“It’s definitely a tough experience because it’s so abnormal [since] I’m used to seeing all the spectators,” Reynolds said. “At least [we’ll] be able to have a season because junior year we had no spring sports at all. It seems like we’ll be able to at least compete against some other schools [and] go against other people aside from our own team. It’ll be nice to at least have something to finish off my athletic career.”
Reynolds has been a star of the boys cross country team, qualifying for state competitions individually in both his sophomore and junior years. As for the 2020-21 sports season, Reynolds and Gregory both agree that strict safety modifications have changed the team environment.
“I think there’s a limitation on what we can do with our team; there’s no physical contact, high fives or anything like that,” Reynolds said. “But overall, it’s great having that team atmosphere because [practice] over the summer was tough, just training as an individual and being by myself nearly the whole time”
Although the 2020-21 seasons are not ideal, Aragon seniors have brought forth their best attitudes while stepping into their last sport season of their high school careers.
