Indoor Sports Aren't Supposed to be Played Outside
Basketball and volleyball athletes deserve to have a season despite state restrictions preventing practices.
By Jace Szarlacki
Basketball and volleyball athletes deserve to have a season despite state restrictions preventing practices.
By Jace Szarlacki
It was Feb. 22, 2020. The last day I truly felt like a Pioneer Mustang. We’d lost that last game by 16 points and our season had finally come to an end. As expected, the loss was rough as it signaled the end of the year for some of us, and the end of a career for a few of us. The seniors that night walked away from the basketball court in a sense of disbelief. They quite frankly couldn’t function. Their memories, the bonds between coaches and players and the cheering of crowds would all be lost behind those closed doors to our old-school brick gym. I hadn’t thought much of the situation since I was only a freshman at the time and surely knew I’d see the court in my coming years.
This year, that opportunity has been taken away from myself along with all the other countless athletes who can now only dream of stepping onto a court thanks to the San Jose Unified School District’s inability to put student’s emotional, mental, and physical needs first.
SJUSD released new tier-related sports information requiring all indoor sports to suspend gym activities until the yellow tier is reached under Santa Clara County health guidelines. This feat will be quite challenging to reach by the end of the school year, predictably canceling any possibility of a season for student athletes who partake in events like basketball and volleyball.
When you take into consideration that all the other surrounding high schools in Santa Clara County are planning to continue with indoor sport activities, it makes you wonder why SJUSD is enforcing such “strict” protocols.
The outdoor sporting events which are taking part in Season 1 had to protest and practically beg the district to allow students to even step foot onto the fields to run conditioning drills. Coaches, parents, and athletes were in every way entitled to protest such a ridiculous restriction on outside sports and the same should now be done for indoor events.
A major player in the decision to cancel indoor sports seems to be where priorities are set. SJUSD prides itself on being one of the largest districts in California, and perhaps the country. It’s mission, like any reasonable school district, is to place the student’s best interests above all else. When the district refused to remove cops from campuses, against Alum Rock and East Side Union decisions, many criticized SJUSD for placing students in a harmful environment. Now when students aren’t allowed to participate in extracurricular events, does that seem like it's benefiting the students? Our teenage years are supposed to be years of interaction and support. How can we do this at home trapped from what we need most?
There are student-athletes in other districts, counties and cities being able to play the sport they’ve loved at a high school they represent. There’s no better feeling than playing for your own school with the high school buddies you crack jokes with during break and lunch. While seemingly everyone else has moved on with their athletic lives, we’ve been on pause for way too long. We’re just kids trying to play the sport we love. For some athletes, it’s these sports which can get them through a school day and provide the encouragement to move onto the next.
Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and especially seniors deserve a sports season. It is only right that we allow every student athlete the opportunity to play a high school sport. Indoor sporting activities need to begin immediately. As other districts plan on having basketball, volleyball and other indoor athletic events beginning, this is the time SJUSD needs to act.
Let Us Play!
This year, that opportunity has been taken away from myself along with all the other countless athletes who can now only dream of stepping onto a court thanks to the San Jose Unified School District’s inability to put student’s emotional, mental, and physical needs first.
SJUSD released new tier-related sports information requiring all indoor sports to suspend gym activities until the yellow tier is reached under Santa Clara County health guidelines. This feat will be quite challenging to reach by the end of the school year, predictably canceling any possibility of a season for student athletes who partake in events like basketball and volleyball.
When you take into consideration that all the other surrounding high schools in Santa Clara County are planning to continue with indoor sport activities, it makes you wonder why SJUSD is enforcing such “strict” protocols.
The outdoor sporting events which are taking part in Season 1 had to protest and practically beg the district to allow students to even step foot onto the fields to run conditioning drills. Coaches, parents, and athletes were in every way entitled to protest such a ridiculous restriction on outside sports and the same should now be done for indoor events.
A major player in the decision to cancel indoor sports seems to be where priorities are set. SJUSD prides itself on being one of the largest districts in California, and perhaps the country. It’s mission, like any reasonable school district, is to place the student’s best interests above all else. When the district refused to remove cops from campuses, against Alum Rock and East Side Union decisions, many criticized SJUSD for placing students in a harmful environment. Now when students aren’t allowed to participate in extracurricular events, does that seem like it's benefiting the students? Our teenage years are supposed to be years of interaction and support. How can we do this at home trapped from what we need most?
There are student-athletes in other districts, counties and cities being able to play the sport they’ve loved at a high school they represent. There’s no better feeling than playing for your own school with the high school buddies you crack jokes with during break and lunch. While seemingly everyone else has moved on with their athletic lives, we’ve been on pause for way too long. We’re just kids trying to play the sport we love. For some athletes, it’s these sports which can get them through a school day and provide the encouragement to move onto the next.
Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and especially seniors deserve a sports season. It is only right that we allow every student athlete the opportunity to play a high school sport. Indoor sporting activities need to begin immediately. As other districts plan on having basketball, volleyball and other indoor athletic events beginning, this is the time SJUSD needs to act.
Let Us Play!