Minnesota High School sports have drastically changed this year due to the new guidelines for COVID-19. Obviously the new rules for sports are not ideal, but Benilde-St. Margaret’s student-athletes are making the most of it.

Fall sport athletes have been through a season with new restrictions, and now winter sport athletes have gotten a glimpse at what their season might going to look like. Governor Walz has recently announced a pause on winter sports, but they are expected to continue in January.

The restrictions vary by sport, but they have many similarities for the most part. “We are required to wear our masks in and out of practice. Our coaches wear them the entire time. We dance far enough apart (more than six feet) so we are allowed to take our masks off. For our kick dance, we typically link together to create lines or one long line, but we can’t this year so we have to kick alone. However, if we plan on kicking together, we will practice alone until we perform at a competition to reduce the risk of everyone getting sick. We have to divide the team up for practice this year so that it’s 25 dancers in the gym plus coaches,” senior dancer Lauren Hawkinson said.

The other fall sports teams had to make similar changes to the ones that Hawkinson described. “We had to alter our warmup so we could maintain space. Also, we had to keep our masks on before practice, after practice, and on the bench to reduce the risk,” junior soccer player Sydney Drees said.

Although the new situations are chaotic and confusing, the focus for these student-athletes remains on the game. “COVID is definitely on our minds before a game, but it is merely in the back of our minds because we have done protocols. We are socially distanced, we wear masks, and our main focus is on the game while still focusing on COVID in real life. I wouldn’t say it’s harder to get game ready, but it makes it a little more difficult,” senior football player Lucio Fialo said.

Winter sport athletes are trying to build off of what fall sport athletes did; however, their schedules were pushed back. Dance started on November 9th. Boys hockey and boys basketball were supposed to start on November 23rd, girls hockey, wrestling, alpine/nordic skiing, and boys swimming/diving were supposed to start on November 30th, and girls basketball and gymnastics were going to start on December 7th. Although due to the new rules put into place by Governor Walz, there are no longer winter sports in play at the moment; they are on a “pause.”

Hockey players participated in a pre-season league called a “bridge league” that was put together to fill the gap of when their regular season was supposed to start and basketball players have been training. “We are always ready. Covid hasn’t really affected us, we just come to play. We have been putting in a lot of work this season, so we will be ready,” senior basketball player Noah Allen said.

There will be up to three games/competitions that can be played during the final two weeks of the season just in case COVID-19 forces rescheduling of earlier events. “With the lower number of games it will make the hockey season go by so much faster than it already does,” senior hockey player Jonah Mortenson said.

COVID-19 has also had an impact on team dynamics. “Covid gets in the way of group gatherings which makes team bonding more difficult since there’s no sleepovers, team activities, or locker room talks.” said Mortenson.

With fewer games and practices, it is anticipated that teams may not be able to reach their full potential. “In order for our team to reach our maximum potential, we need to have in depth practices, film sessions, and workouts. Without those, we will be unprepared for our upcoming season,” junior hockey player Sophie Melsness said.

Although there are many downsides to the COVID-19 situation as a whole, many Benilde-St. Margaret’s students began to see the positive side of things. “The good thing about it is we never know what game would be our last one because of covid shutting down a lot of things, so we play every game like it is,” junior soccer and hockey player Mary Zavoral said.

Other athletes also maintained a positive attitude about their seasons. “It didn’t really affect the dynamic of our team, if anything it made us closer because all we could focus on is performing our best,” Drees said.

Seniors are especially grateful to even have a season because it is their final year of high school sports. “The new guidelines make me feel more fortunate to be able to still play with my teammates,” senior hockey player Abby Hancock said. Overall, athletes are just happy to be given the opportunity to play the sport they love. While the future of their sports schedules are undetermined, athletes are staying positive and are ready to go.