As the new school year begins, so does the new season of fall sports. Unfortunately, this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak, official sports teams have been delayed until the winter. Luckily, yellow days, which are entirely conditioning, outside on the turf have been planned by most teams.

“I’m really upset we can’t have our [field hockey] season,” junior Vivian Kreeb said.

The new yellow days have the advantage that any sport can request field time, including off season sports that usually wouldn’t have been able to get as much field time.

“This is a great opportunity for us to get in shape off of the court so can be ready for when sports get to start again,” sophomore Brooke Thomas said

This gives sports an opportunity to have practices despite the current pandemic.

“This situation definitely isn’t ideal, but it’s better than no sports at all,” Kreeb said.

The new yellow days also present several challenges. Due to the number of sports requesting field time, it is more difficult to get space on the field.

“It kinda sucks that we only get to practice once a week,” junior Jessica Dziedzic said. “We’re so used to having practice all week that it just feels weird only having one day of conditioning a week.”

Not only are practices limited, but the events at practice are also affected. Teams were required to host a minimum of two yellow days before any green days, practices with equipment, can be planned. 

“It was nice to get some good conditioning at the beginning of the season because most of the team hasn’t been doing a lot of field hockey during quarantine,” Dziedzic said.

Once the green days started, there have been even more regulations for social distancing implemented including limiting mandatory masks, staggered pickup and drop off times, temperature checks and only two people touching a ball at once.

“This plan [for safely practicing sports] takes time, but all coaches have to be willing to take proper precautions in order to keep everyone safe,” Director of Student Activities Gregory Miller said.

In the upcoming months, the schedules for yellow and green days are posted on the McLean Athletics website and the next official sports season is planned for Dec. 14.

“I think that if the safety measures are followed, and our athletes/coaches are doing everything they can to keep themselves safe, we do have a realistic chance of having winter sports,” Miller said. “Ultimately that will be [a] decision for the governor, the VHSL and our school system to decide.”