Cross country is already competing, while sports like soccer have a no-competition policy for this season.

By Dhiren Parvathaneni ’24 and Matthew Corkey ’24

Conducting sports in the climate of 2020 proves to be a challenge and a whole new experience for athletes participating in fall sports. With new, stringent safety protocols that athletes must follow, many of the valued experiences the Charger Athletic Program offers have evolved.

During the first few weeks of fall sports, the first inter-school match was successfully navigated in one particular sport: Cross Country. Matthew Corkey (’24), a self-proclaimed cheetah on the track (albeit with all four legs broken), recalls this meet as “far different than normal.” Corkey, who has had one year of experience, distinctly remembers the vast differences between the various meets he participated in last year and the meet that occurred almost a week ago. “Cross country was so different back then,” he explains, “we would run on courses all over the state against other schools. Now, for our first couple races, we ran in small groups on our own track, and placed our times against other schools.”

However, not just the meets have changed for cross country. Practices have been changed as well to prevent the spread of COVID-19. According to a few CA cross country runners, training groups must remember to stay twenty feet away from other groups and six feet away from their fellow runners in their own training group. They must also be temperature checked before practice, and they  must wear masks before and after practice.

One other sport happening this season that has undergone changes is soccer. There are many differences between soccer last year and this year, but they’re not all because of COVID-19, at least according to one student. Ethan Vandewouw (’24) explains: “Now, [my teammates] are really good and they know what to do.” As a result, “soccer has been far more competitive and way more fun,” he says. Other changes include wearing a mask in warmup, as well as mandated spatial awareness and complicity with social distancing rules. As soccer is  a contact sport, officials have determined that the soccer season will not proceed with inter-school competition. Though devastating, a lack of competition won’t detract from the great experiences in store for these athletes.

Despite the many limitations athletes at CA must follow right now, the Charger Athletic Program and the coaches for the sports know that bonding with fellow athletes is a crucial part of the experience, and it allows for athletes to converse with each other, albeit in a socially distant manner.

With inter-school competition getting underway for some sports, we wish good luck and safety to our fellow Chargers, and although the experience is different, we know it will prove to be a fun learning experience for all. We encourage any student wanting regular exercise and a chance to escape mundane life at home to try out a winter sport.

Thanks for reading this article, and we hope you learned some new information about CA sports. Make sure to stay tuned for future Campitor issues, where we will be covering sports and games during the fall.