COVID-19 has affected the world in many different ways. From the way students learn in school, to people adjusting to working from home, and even how people live their day-to-day lives, the pandemic has shaken the world. 

With schools welcoming back students and teachers, with addition of rules to prevent the spread of the virus, practice for sports such as football, volleyball, and cross country have become a challenge. 

Keeping students socially distanced while wearing a mask, has caused teams and coaches to rethink how they’re going to do practice this year.  Despite these changes, athletes and coaches around Cypress Creek have adjusted and faced this new problem head on.

The ongoing virus has, in many ways, given our teams a new way to practice, notably volleyball, according to Katt Betancourt (12). 

“Practice has been really different this year, we have to wear masks and maintain distance from each other.” With many rules and regulations put in place to prevent the spreading of the virus, teams have to find a way to work together, while maintaining social distancing,” said Betancourt.

While practice this year is different, the volleyball team has shown they are more than willing to adapt.

 “This year is definitely different and more challenging than years before, but we make the most of it,” said Betancourt. “We’re all pretty close and have really good chemistry, so we just had to figure out a way to work together while being safe.” 

Even with all the rules and regulations implemented on the athletes, the team is still finding ways to work together, and bring home the trophy.

Because of the virus, the student body hasn’t participated in school or sports in roughly six months. That means maintaining a disciplined routine of staying in shape, and staying physically fit was up to the students themselves. 

However, this was not a problem for Ben Countiss (12), who runs on the varsity  cross country team. 

“With COVID going on, it definitely affected my training,” said Countiss.“That being said, for me, I spent the extended summer running really high mileage and just kept training.” 

Since there were no coaches around to tell athletes when they should be training, or an actual practice schedule, Countiss had to rely on himself and his will to keep himself in shape for the upcoming season. 

“It was kind of easy for me, cause I kind of just ran all the time, most days twice a day, it’s really how I kept sane,” said Countiss

Out of all the sports, one could argue that football has been hit the hardest by COVID-19. With rules preventing people from getting within six-feet of each other, it’s hard to play a sport that relies on contact. 

Korey Celestine (12), explains how the virus affected football this year.

“When the district is pushing social distancing, it’s definitely far from normal, and we’re all still kind of getting used to it,” said Celestine

The coaches have not been lenient on the rules either, for the safety of everybody. 

“COVID rules are one of the biggest things they push right now, because we all want to have a football season and we don’t want anything to ruin it” said Celestine.

 With their first game being on Saturday, September 26, at 6 p.m., the football team has been extra cautious in keeping everyone safe and healthy, even if that means keeping their distance for the time being.

With everything changing due to the pandemic, no one can say when things will start to become normal again. Our athletes however, have shown that even though COVID is a challenge, they will not let it affect their passion for playing the game.