HHS Winter Sports Update

With new COVID requirements and constantly updating regulations, almost everything is up in the air and can change multiple times within a single week.

The HHS athletic department has been working especially hard during these times to make sure students will be able to participate in sports, but the winter sports season consists of predominantly indoor activities. So how does the administration make these sports COVID safe to participate in? To answer this question, I talked with Megan Sobel, Hanover’s Athletic director.

For starters, anyone participating in any sport must wear a mask at all times, perform temperature checks before practices, and answer regulatory questions about symptoms, similar to protocol in the fall. “Coaches will take a required COVID training course” to prepare for a season of many new changes, says Ms. Sobel.

In addition to these changes due to COVID, the same school-sanctioned sports as last year–boys and girls basketball, boys and girls hockey, skiing, indoor track, and swimming–are available to participate in, with the exception of unified basketball, which would gather students from different schools to play together. Although practices for some sports have already begun, the NHIA has determined that for Division 2, sports games will start on January 11, and Division 1 games will begin January 15. As for fans attending games, the administration has not yet settled on a specific idea, but is leaning towards the same procedure as indoor sports in the fall, which allowed no fans. They are considering other options because more winter sports take place inside, whereas in the fall only volleyball was indoors. 

Overall, Ms. Sobel said she was “grateful that [the administration] can provide sports” to students in this stressful time and allow for after school activities that bring people together (while social distancing, of course).