Virtual Girls Swim & Dive pre-meet encouragement via google meets.

Are you an athlete or sports fan not able to compete or watch any games this year? Nationally, many schools are not competing at all or have pushed back their season and Whitney Young is among the schools fortunate enough to have some low risk sports compete. Boys and girls cross country, girls swim and diving, girls tennis, and girls 16” softball are among the lucky student-athletes that are able to participate in sports this year amidst COVID-19. Intrigued by the different experiences the athletes might have, I decided to ask the students at Whitney Young what their thoughts were on their season this year with everything that is going on. 

“I like cross country and we have fun despite staying separated. We work hard and the team is so tight knit so we would do anything to stay running.” – Max (Cross Country) ‘21

“I think with everything going on, I’m grateful we even get our season. We can compete and be around to support each other. I mean it’s just like the normal season but modified a little bit.” – Lexi (Swim) ‘24

“I think meets are definitely nerve-racking just because you come close to a lot of strangers, but I think that the swim girls are doing a great job at keeping our distance from each other, wearing masks, and etc. We are following rules and overall it is good to be swimming because everything will be opening in phases and this will probably become the new normal.” – Mae (Swim) ‘22

There seems to be a general consensus that everyone is thankful for the opportunity to continue their respective sport and be a part of the team even with social distancing guidelines. Most sports continue to adapt and change on a day-to-day basis which will hopefully set up for more successful and safe seasons for other higher risk sports. It’s Important to recognize the successes we have had so far in reducing and preventing the spread of COVID-19.  All of this has been done in an effort to support the students and give them an opportunity to partake in extracurricular activities after being stuck at home in front of a computer screen all day.