I think we all can agree that last year was kind of quiet. Not having any fans, or being limited to a certain number of fans during fall and winter sports had an impact on everyone. It was difficult to look up into the stands and not see your parents and grandparents there cheering you on.

 As of now,  we are planning on allowing fans at home meets and games. Vice Principal and Athletic Director CJ Korf said, “As of right now, we are planning on proceeding as normal as possible, just like before Covid. And If we have a lot of cases, then we’ll have to make adjustments.” 

Without having fans and a student section chanting and cheering at some of our sporting events, many athletes can agree that it brought their momentum and team energy down.  Freshman Kimber Ogorzolka said, “It’s always nice to have fans and somebody there supporting you.” 

As Covid cases rise, fall sports might start to look like last year’s. Each athlete might be limited to only 2-5 people, or fans might be masked. Last year, there were multiple games where athletes only got limited to a certain number of fans and those fans had tickets allowing them to get into the game. Also last year, they started broadcasting sports events for people at home. Hopefully this year we won’t have to worry about canceling any games and having to reschedule them. 

As for home football games, I think all of the Southeast of Saline (SES) students are happy to be back in the student section. Last year, we had a student section, but all students had to wear a mask at all times. This year, the lifting of the mask mandate has allowed us to go all out with our costumes!

As for volleyball, this might be more limited if Covid gets worse, as it is an indoor sport. All fans would be sitting inside together, and fairly close. On the other hand,  football would be easier to safely attend because it is an outdoor sport, and fans could space out more without the worry of being too close. I’d say cross country is the easiest sport to dictate because it is outside, and is definitely the most spaced out due to the nature of the sport.  The athletes are running along the course while the fans are spread out along the course them cheering them on every mile that they run. 

Overall, SES  is still planning on having our fall sports activities full of fans in our crowd and supporting our athletes. Almost every athlete hopes that Covid doesn’t get worse and that we can continue like we used to. Our athletes love our fans, and we wouldn’t trade them for anything.