By Hailey Rice
Staff Reporter
Schools are cutting down on the amount of people who can watch student athletes play sports. High school sports have always been a significant source of excitement. Spectators look forward to flooding the stands to come watch their friends or family play, COVID has changed the way we do this.
It varies from school to school, but most have restricted the quantity of viewers to only two family members per player. This has the potential to be a source of conflict because some players have many family members. If a player’s guardians want to come, it is possible that their siblings will not be allowed in to watch them.
PHOTO COURTESY of Zoey Galindo 9th grade Peace Student:
Socially distanced spectators at Baseball Game Millikan Fresh/soph vs. Wilson Fresh/soph
Alexandra (Lexi) Garbiero, a COMPASS 11th grade student says, “For dance we normally have our big show but that is going to have to be modified. If we are able to do some type of showing it will be sad because my little sister most likely won’t be able to come.”
Luckily, there are alternative options to watching the games. Schools are live streaming the games on multiple different social media platforms. There is also an app called Game Changer that follows sports games, showing the plays, the score, etc. This app is available on all devices.
Playing sports during COVID is definitely a tough situation, but it can be a blessing and a curse. Since less people and only some people apart of your family are allowed to watch you, there is not as much pressure.
Lela Asi, an MBA 9th grade student states, “I kind of like not being allowed more than two people, it’s less pressure on me when my whole family isnt there.”
Although watching athletes play is restricted, there is still a bright side to every situation. Hopefully in the next few years, athletes’ full families can watch them in person.
Desirae Melena • Jan 3, 2022 at 11:58 am
This article really stood out to me because I play softball too and I agree that I would not like that only two people can come watch me play. But can also be a good thing at the same time because it adds less pressure for me.
Vivian • May 17, 2021 at 10:03 am
May 17, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In issue 8 (May 11, 2021), Hailey Rice wrote an article titled ¨Spectating on Sport¨. In the article she refers to the pandemic as being the cause for the lessened amount of spectators allowed to be at athletic events. I think the view on spectators varies between student athletes, parents, and the school. All of the schools have to follow specific guidelines due to COVID, but as a student athlete and being used to the stands full of family and friends there is a conflict. Though I am grateful that there are even allowed spectators as well as there being games in general, athletes depend on the people watching for support and encouragment play after play. I like that there is a way where the people at home can watch the game or performances that aren’t permitted to attend the occasion. It gives them an opportunity to watch and not feel as bad about not being able to go and also support even if it’s from a far. I don’t think that spectators give a sense of pressure to the athletes, at least not for me, I like that I have the support from not only my teammates but also the parents.
Sincerely,
Vivian Toomey, Grade 12
Jonathan Lemus • May 13, 2021 at 1:52 pm
May 13, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In Issue 8 In issue 8 ( May 11,2021 ), Hailey Rice wrote an article titled, “Spectating on sports”. In this article she talks about the fan attendance restriction in school sports. She showed us one of the downsides of this school year and how only 2 family members can show up to students’ games. It sucks because most students look up to their whole family cheering at them and this year only 2 can show up not giving them as much motivation to even play. For some players it’s something good because some parents tend to put a lot of pressure and it could get to them but then again some students get motivated by this pressure and perform better knowing that their family members are looking at them. At Least they get to play most of the season, like last year that student got to play half the season of nothing at all the circumstances may be a bit different but as a school we are still able to attend these events. Hailey did a great job at explaining what students have to go through this year and getting some actual point of view of some students in sports and what they think of this situation. This article was short but gets to the point and gets the message across very well.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Lemus, Grade 12
Victoria E. • May 13, 2021 at 11:06 am
Dear Corydon Editor,
In Issue 8 (May 11,2021) Hailey Rice wrote an article titled, “Spectating on sports”. She talks about how tough it has been for families and students during sports season. I like how she gave responses from two different players with completely different perspectives on this. Personally, I love it when the stands are full because it gives me more encouragement to play better but having multiple family members is what I dislike. I understand they would want to be there for support but it can be nerve wrecking at times especially when going up against a tough team. As a senior this year, I was planning on going to friday night football games and enjoying it for one last time but the pandemic changed all of that. Even when soccer season started I couldn’t go to some games to support my friends due to the restrictions there were regarding how many people were able to be in the stands. It’s tough on everyone, but I hope by next school year everyone is able to have that excitement of watching a sports game. I really enjoyed reading this article. It was very informative, I didn’t even know there was an app which is really good to know and useful for ones who work late or even games that are too far to attend! Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Victoria Escamilla, Grade 12
Cameron Snyder • May 12, 2021 at 12:10 pm
May 12, 2021
Dear corydon editor,
In issue 8 ( May 11,2021 ), Hailey Rice wrote an article titled, “Spectating on sports”. In this article she talks about the fan attendance restriction in sports. With covid still being a serious issue she captures the sad side of highschool sports this year. Due to the guidelines set in place there are only allowed to be 2 spectators per player. Even though you can get rid of these parameters, sometimes the school has people monitoring how many people enter and won’t allow some of them to reach a capacity. Hailey does a good job in the article getting quotes and interviews with a diverse amount of athletes on campus to show how the limited amount of spectators positively or negatively impacts the morale and confidence of these athletes. Hailey also does a good job at being straightforward with the information she put into the article. It was short and to the point but very informative at the same time.
One thing that would enhance this article that much more could have been a spotlight on the senior nights that have to take place and how seniors feel about the restricted amount of people in attendance at the sporting events because it is their last year. If she were to ask them and see how these restrictions affect the seniors I think it would have been that much better. Other than that aspect of the article she did a good job reporting on the restrictions put in place for spectating high school sporting events this year during Covid.
Sincerely,
Cameron Snyder, Grade 12
Patrick Gallagher • May 12, 2021 at 12:03 pm
May 12, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In Issue 8 ( May 11, 2021), Hailey Rice wrote an article titled “ Spectating on Sports” In this article the author mentions how schools have created regulations directed at the fans who would usually all attend a normal sporting event at high schools. Personally played football for all four years of high school and the stands when we played were always packed on a Friday night. In some instances the entire stadium would fill up and the school would sell out of tickets. This past season the circumstances were very different as each player was only allowed in between two to four tickets per game depending on the stadium that we played at because they were all different sizes. It was definitely a big change to experience because there was about a quarter of the regular amount of people in the stadium and they were all players’ families and no friends. Usually the chants in stands would fire me up and give me motivation to play better because I felt that everyone was watching and all the pressure was on. Some players hate the pressure because it really gets to them, but for me the pressure only ever made me play better because I knew that if there was a lot of pressure it meant that we needed to perform in order to secure the win. Hopefully in the future families and friends can once attend the games as they use to so that every sport can get full support from everyone that enjoys to watch.
Sincerely,
Patrick Gallagher, Grade 12
Maryellen • May 12, 2021 at 8:23 am
May 12, 2021
Dear Corydon Editor,
In issue 8 (May 11, 2021), Hailey Rice wrote an article titled ¨Spectating on Sport¨. I loved the idea of having to only have 2 people per family to spectate but I believe that it sucks because the spectators are there to support you and cheer you on as well as your teammates. I don’t necessarily like it when the stands are empty but I do hate having a lot of pressure on me when playing against a rival team. You could’ve possibly interviewed a parent of a close friend that plays sports to get their insight on what they think about the 2 family members per person. You would have gotten a little bit of how they feel during this pandemic. Like you said it varies on the school and location knowing that the Long Beach school district is barely getting students to return to school. I have a very big family and I would hate to only have 2 family members to watch because just like any other family they are very supportive. When I played sports my last 3 years my mom used game changer when she couldn´t go because I was with my father that day and she’d always tell me how good and accurate the app is but it’s only because a parent has to input the information. This article was very informative, i´ve been wondering how many people are able to show up and watch students play.
Sincerely,
Maryellen Gonzalez, Grade 12