How the December shutdown has impacted winter sports

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The girls basketball team lost out on their annual trip to a holiday tournament in Wildwood, NJ this season. COVID-19 has adversely affected other sports programs at MHS as well.

By Madison Roth, Staff Writer

On Dec. 12, Gov. Tom Wolfe shutdown all indoor dining services, gyms and extracurricular activities including high school athletics. So, the winter teams will wait until 2021 to see if and when they’ll be competing again.

When practices and competitions resume, MHS Athletic Director, Dr. Paul Spiewak said Methacton is prepared. 

“We have approved a protocol that lists precautionary measures that we must take as a conference, a school district, and as individual sports.  Examples of this protocol include daily screenings for all coaches, athletes, and officials, the sanitizing of facilities and equipment, the mandatory mask rule and distancing while not in the act of playing the sport, to name a few,” said Spiewak. 

This recent shutdown also has sparked questions about scheduling, the lengths of seasons and traveling.

We will be having a shorter season with less games. As of today, we are playing a league only schedule with possible playoffs. Also, league-only schedules are becoming standard to limit exposure. In addition, the holiday tournaments we have come to love are being cancelled,” said MHS girls basketball coach Craig Kaminski.

 In a normal year, the girls travel to Wildwood, NJ during the holiday break to compete in a winter tournament. 

Many, if not all, winter sports are close contact, making it hard to hold seasons during a pandemic. This is especially true for the MHS wrestling team, whose season was cancelled before it began. 

Many athletes are making the most of this shutdown by working out on their own. Emma Spinelli, captain of the MHS cheer squad, says that even in this environment there is opportunity for growth.

 “As of right now, we are doing virtual workouts via Zoom. We workout as a team, but some workouts are individualized based on skill level and position, so we are all improving.”  

Questions continue for the future of Methacton athletics. When will normal practices resume? And how will students continue to adjust to the changes?