South Lakes Basketball is a great way to get fit and play with friends, classmates and other students at South Lakes. With COVID-19 there will be changes that will have to happen in order to keep everybody safe and healthy. Ali Ali, a JV player and Nijel Howard, a varsity player, have been asked a few questions about what changes will occur through the season and how the season will continue with Covid getting in the way. 

 Ali Ali, a sophomore on the Boy’s JV team, talked about how the games will proceed with safety precautions. He explained that there will be fewer teams this year and that the season will be shorter. “The safety precautions are wearing a mask during practices and games. The season is different this year because it got shorter so there aren’t as many games,” Ali said.

Ali said that he likes how the team makes sure that everyone’s safety comes first. He appreciates that they still let him pursue the dream he wants even with all the dangers of it, “Playing for this league is so fun and I enjoy it very much and I’m so grateful that we can still play through this pandemic.”

Nijel Howard was asked about what restrictions they will have with covid getting in the way of playing the sport. He responded by talking about how they don’t have many restrictions other than having to wear their masks in games, at practices, or even if they aren’t on the court. He also talked about how their chairs are all separated so they all stay socially distanced. “There are not very many restrictions besides you can’t take you mask off unless you need to drink water, or if you are very tired and need some air you can step away to the side from everyone around you to pull your mask down for more air” 

Howard was then asked about what he thinks is going well with the precautions and about what needs improvement. He replied by saying that he thinks the school is doing a good job at keeping safe but he would prefer if the ten players on the court didn’t have to wear masks because it can be hard to play without being able to breathe well. “I believe they are doing everything right with the precautions but, I believe that everyone but the 10 players on the court should have to wear a mask because constantly moving and breathing is hard while wearing a mask, sometimes it feels like you’re suffocating it’s terrible.”

There are also many other restrictions that change up the game. There are no pre-game and post-game handshakes allowed, you can’t give hugs, high fives, or any kind of fistbumps either. To add to that, the jump balls have also been eliminated to cancel out any physical contact. At some schools, players will be forced to sit 10 feet apart just to be extra cautious about social distancing.

The sports teams are all taking caution to their sports by making sure that there is the minimum amount of physical contact. They have cut off as much as they possibly could without having to cancel the sport. The athletes always need to keep a mask on whether they are or aren’t playing and should be socially distanced most of the time.