The Current State of Prep Sports: Building Resilience and Teamwork

As the world begins to slowly rebuild from the devastating effects of COVID-19, we at Flintridge Prep must wonder if playing sports during the 2020-21 school year remains a possibility. 

On July 20th, 2020, the CIF released a statement that the California High School sports year would be split into two seasons, instead of the traditional three. The anticipated start date for the first season would be early December 2020. Yet how likely is it that sports would start up in the midst of this ubiquitous and evolving worldwide pandemic? Considering we are still not allowed to attend in person school, it remains to be seen if we will be given access to our athletic facilities.

Regardless, our teams must be prepared to begin the season in December. With last year’s spring season cut short, it is possible that some student-athletes haven’t competed in, or much less practiced their sport for a long while. This is something that the Athletics department has prepared for, with coaches encouraging their student-athletes to begin at-home workouts.

Andrew Phillips, the Head Boys and Girls Water Polo coach, is “extremely confident that we are and 

will be ahead of the curve when it comes to preparation… when it comes to structure and organization, we will be ready to spearhead our season.” Football player Nick Gonzalez also believes his team will be ready. “We have been working out on our own trying to stay in shape… I believe we will be able to adjust to the short amount of practices and will be ready for action when the season starts.”

But physical preparedness is not the only thing to take into account. Team chemistry is a real issue, especially with current social distancing guidelines preventing teams from holding gatherings. Girls Water Polo team captain, Natalie Kaplanyan, attested to the fact that rebuilding team chemistry would be a challenge, but not impossible. “We have been trying to keep in touch through our team group chat and individual communication with one another to keep the connection alive.” Technology has become a great asset to us here at Prep. It has enabled us to keep up with our studies, but also keep up with workouts and communicate with our teammates/coaches. 

Whenever this pandemic subsides, sports will return, whether that occurs this year – or next. Regardless of the start date, our student-athletes will be ready to come back and compete, with even more intensity and hard work than before.