It’s been over a year since San Mateo County issued its first shelter-in-place order. Now that cases are slowing down, high school sports have been allowed to start up again. Currently, the Peninsula Athletic League is operating under a two season schedule with the first season having already started on Feb. 8, while the second season is set to start on April 5. Included in the first season is girl’s tennis (3-1 PAL) who have already started practice and games.
The start of the season brings excitement for the tennis players.
Like in most sports right now, safety is the number one priority for girls tennis, and the team is taking precautionary measures such as wearing masks while playing, social distancing and disinfecting equipment. They also fill out a form on LiveSafe which tracks athletes’ exposure to COVID-19 through an online questionnaire. It asks a series of questions such as if an athlete has experienced any symptoms of COVID-19 and if the athlete or their family members have been in contact with others who may be infected with the virus. It also asks if an athlete has been outside of San Mateo for practices or games. LiveSafe is used throughout the district for contact tracing of COVID-19.
With all of the COVID-19 restrictions in place, the season is a lot different than it used to be and less games are being played, but the team is happy to play nonetheless.
“It’s kind of tough [and] a little bit confusing,” said freshman first singles player Varsha Jawadi. “It’s definitely not as fun because the season would normally be longer, and we would usually get to play more schools. It’s shortened now because of COVID-19, but it’s good that it’s happening at all.”
One of these differences is that teams will play against less schools this year. Due to the way the league is structured this season, San Mateo Union High School District teams, including Aragon, cannot play against teams from other districts. Because of this, Aragon won’t be playing many of the high-ranking teams like Menlo-Atherton, Carlmont, and Woodside this season.
“Our competition isn’t as good as it was because in our league, the best teams are in the Bay [division] and lesser teams are in the Ocean [division],” said Coach Dave Owdom. “I always feel you get better when you play better people [than] playing a team that’s not so good that our team can beat easily. That’s changed a little bit competition wise, but I understand you got to start out slow. You got to see how this works.”
Owdom hopes that the season can bring a sense of normalcy back into the lives of the athletes.
“[Our] goal right now more than anything is getting our lives back to normal,” Owdom said. “Not just the physical activity, but the social aspect of playing tennis [is] more important than goals in the past. I always want people to get better; it’s always a goal to get better. Being part of a team is always a goal of mine, but it’s more so being a team this year than ever before.”
The team fosters a variety of skill levels from beginners to advanced players. Jawadi believes that her experience on the court will help her be a leader even though it’s her first year on the team.
“I’ve been playing tournaments since I was eight [and] I think for a lot of other girls, this is one of their first matches or they just never really played matches that much,” Jawadi said. “I think that [my experience] definitely helps me help out my teammates when they’re nervous before a match or if they have questions about points or something. I always feel like I can help them out.”
