By Jack Callahan
Winter Athletics at North Attleboro High School will begin on December 14th with new guidelines and restrictions in place due to Covid-19.
Due to coronavirus, not all winter sports will be running this year. Swim, basketball, ice hockey and gymnastics will run, while indoor track and wrestling will be delayed to a further date.
One big change athletes will be experiencing this year is there will be no lockers. Students are expected to carry all their gym equipment in a gym bag and to change in the locker room after school. When a student is remote and has practice, they are expected to arrive to practice in their clothes and go directly to where their practice is located.
Gym bags will be able to be dropped off and stored in the concession stand in the morning before school. Bags will not touch each other and will be sprayed with an aerosol disinfectant each morning. Students must leave their bags there all day and will have access to them at the end of the day at 1:49PM.
Athletic Director Mr. Kummer made an announcement on Google Classroom recommending a list of supplies for gym bags. The items on this list include a reusable face mask, warm-up clothing, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, athletic braces, tape, inhalers and any other medical supplies you may need. It is also recommended to bring an additional pair of shoes and store them in a separate compartment to prevent cross contamination with other items in your bag.
Athletes are expected to disinfect their gym bag after practice everyday and before coming to school the next day. Any items in a gym bag must not be shared among other athletes.
Registration for winter sports this year will remain the same as in previous years. Registration is open on FamilyID and a fee $150 is required to participate.
Practices for sports will have to adapt to maintain as much social distancing as possible and competitions with other teams will be kept socially distanced to try and prevent the spread of the virus.
According to Sharon varsity basketball coach and NAHS history teacher, Mr. Ferguson, the basketball season will have many changes due to the virus. Between the start of the season on December 14 and January 2, teams are limited to 12 practices. Games will then begin starting the week of January 5.
All games will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving Friday open for the possibility of make-up games. Teams will play 10 games in total this season, with each team playing two games against the five opponents in their division. Games will be played back to back, meaning if you face a team on Tuesday you face the same team on Thursday before moving to the next opponent the following week. There are also tentative plans for a Hockomock Cup tournament involving the Kelley-Rex and Davenport divisions at the end of the season.
Students who have done sports before will be experiencing them very differently this year. Andrew Faris, a senior wrestler at North Attleboro High School will have to miss out on a normal wrestling season this year. He says, “I’m sad about it, but I understand safety is first.”
Sean Flood is captain of the boys swim team this year and is hesitant on how things will play out given the situation. He says, “I am conflicted on whether or not sports should be happening. There are obvious safety concerns and I don’t want to be responsible for getting another person sick, but also I am obligated to do my sport because I’m a captain.”
More information about individual sports and updates on this season can be found at the following link: http://www.miaa.net/contentm/easy_pages/view.php?sid=38&page_id=317.
The First Launch 