They are back! Club sports and high school sports have finally returned! Student athletes cannot be happier to achieve a sense of normalcy in such hard times.

Ice Hockey began on a normal season schedule due to rink availabilities, and phase one of high school sports began on January 11th. The sports that are included in phase one are Boys basketball, Girls basketball, bowling, and fencing. Competitions in these sports will begin on January 26th. Coming soon is Phase two of high school sports, which begins on February 1st with competitions starting on February 16th. The sports listed in Phase two are Swimming and Track & Field.

The facilities that offer club sports have reopened as well, but all at different times.

Manuela Gonzalez, a Wayne Hills junior is part of The New Jersey Bluestreaks, a club swimming team that recently started their practices again. Gonzalez states that she is excited to return back and feels as though her “club teams safety guidelines are perfect. We all feel the safest we can.”

It is exciting to return to sports of course, but there are strict boundaries in place. “Practice times are a lot shorter. We normally have practices that are two and a half hours long but because of COVID restrictions it got cut down to 45 minutes which is very little time” states Gonzalez.

Although the guidelines and restrictions do not give students a “normal” playing season, they are put in place to ensure everyone’s safety. We are excited to see more athletes getting the chance to play the sports they love!