Sports

Green light for high school fall sports hits roadblock with MCPS

AJ Grainger, features editor|October 24, 2020

The 2019 varsity football team suits up for its last team photo and season before Covid-19 hit.

Governor Larry Hogan announced on Sept. 24 that he would give the green light for all Maryland high schools to continue with fall sports starting Oct. 7.

Despite Hogan giving the OK for the return of fall sports, MCPS stated that virtual sports will still continue for the rest of the semester. “MCPS will continue with its plans as outlined in the framework for virtual athletics in order to ensure the health and safety in our community,” MCPS tweeted.

Virtual sports have been a unique experience for students who are participating in them. Students can expect to have meetings every week where their coaches talk about things related to their sport.

Senior cross country runner Andrew Potts is thankful that his team can at least have some type of season even though it is virtual. “It’s great to be able to still participate in school sports despite the Coronavirus and I just appreciate the coaches doing all they can to make sure we had this opportunity,” Potts said.

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I just wish that MCPS could find a way to have sports happen in the fall because I know that almost every fall athlete here wants to have a season.

— Max Gracyalny

MCPS’s announcement is not sitting well with some students. Junior Max Gracyalny is a linebacker for the football team and was not happy with the announcement. “I just wish that MCPS could find a way to have sports happen in the fall because I know that almost every fall athlete here wants to have a season,” Gracyalny said.

For students across MCPS, the only way they can play organized sports is to play with a club team. Sophomore Ethan Goldstein has been playing baseball this fall for the school’s club team. “If I were a fall athlete and wanted to play organized sports this fall or any time soon, I would look into playing for a club team because they are really the only option for organized sports right now,” Goldstein said.

If club sports are continuing while still following all the necessary Covid regulations and precautions, that raises the question, why can’t MCPS have fall sports if they can take the right precautions?

With certain sports, MCPS could find a way to make a legitimate fall season. For example, MCPS could make cross country happen since there is little to no contact in the sport.

Junior cross country runner Jason Wang wishes for any sort of season. “It would be cool to have some sort of competition even if it’s just a fraction of that in a normal season,” Wang said.

Covid-19 has left a lot of student athletes uncertain about whether or not they will get to have a season or not as news keeps changing.