On October 12, 2020, Governor Murphy announced that all winter sports will resume this winter. These sports include: basketball, ice-hockey, cheerleading, dance, rugby, boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo, and wrestling. In an article published on NJ.com, Governor Murphy stated that there will be several restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
The restrictions are endless: 25% capacity for practices and games, spectators will be prohibited, limit of people in the facility not exceed 150 people, screening for athletes, coaches, and staff before each practice and game, limited shared equipment, masks on the benches but not during practicing or games, and sanitizing area and equipment in between events. This is a burden on all the winter athletes. Christian Arbo, a Bernards senior wrestler, said, “Towards the beginning of Covid our season was so far away that I was not worried about it getting cancelled. Then seeing spring sports begin gave me hope for a 2020-2021 season. I definitely think that Covid will affect the amount of fans that are coming to the matches. I’m sure some matches will get cancelled due to this, but I do not think it will affect wrestling itself.” This is a large step back into the real world.
According to NJ.com, “New Jersey’s coronavirus numbers improved significantly over the summer after peaking in April.” Before winter sports officially begin, many factors can change over the next few months altering the outcome. Mr. Hoppe, the athletic director, stated, “The bottom line of executive order 187 says that fans will not be allowed until further notice. Wrestling is actually easy because the contact tracing is limited to one person from the opposition. Basketball is 5 on 5 plus substitutions. Wrestling is one on one, no subs.” Then he continued to tell me about the sanitary precautions, “We already have mandatory cleaning of mats and surfaces before and after every practice and match. They already have skin checks, so taking temperatures is rather easy. No shared towels, practice gear etc. No shared drinking facilities. Individual water bottles. They have to launder everything daily.” I had asked Mr. Hoppe about the ways that we can ensure that these athletes can have a complete season and he told me, “ There are no promises that we will have a complete season. We are trying to do everything right at BHS. However, we have no control over what goes on outside of school. If students remain socially distant, continuously wash hands, and wear masks we can have more hope for the season.” In hopes for a winter season students should avoid halloween parties, don’t hang out with the college kids coming home, take extra precautions, and lastly stay safe.