Towards the end of February, Governor Newsom and CIF made exciting news that High School sports were coming back. This news has been a long time coming being that the last time any high schools have competed was at the beginning of March. Many athletes have been anticipating and hoping for this day and we Mustangs are very excited!

California Government officials said that counties can go back to playing once there were 14 cases per 100,000 people and Orange County had finally hit that number towards the end of February. The earliest a sport could start playing is girls tennis on February 22 and Track and Field and Golf would start March 20. 

Questions and rules started to fill our email inboxes and heads and one of the biggest questions was regarding spectators. The final ruling on spectators is that every athlete is allowed 2 guests and they must be immediate family members. Masks must be worn by all spectators and they all must 6 feet apart from non-household members. 

Now on the topic of masks, it was originally explained that every single person would have to wear masks including athletes competing and participating in physical activities. This has since been changed as now athletes playing do not have to wear masks but players on the sidelines, coaches, and referees all need to wear masks. 

Informed consent forms would need to be signed by all parents and guardians agreeing to understand the risk of playing during COVID-19. Failure to have this form signed by athletes would result in not participating in seasons. 

Weekly COVID testing will be required for all water polo and football players weekly while the case rate is over 7 cases per 100,000, and results must be available within 24 hours. This allows plenty of time to decide whether continuing on with the match is safe and being that football and water polo are such high contact sports, this makes sense. 

All Mustangs are ecstatic about finally being able to play and Junior, Abby Pietsch (11) who plays volleyball and water polo says that she is “more than excited to finally get back in the pool and gym. [She has] been working so hard these last few months training that finally being able to play with [her] teammates has been a long time coming”

Overall, we are so excited for every student-athlete to get back to competing and doing the thing they love. We are all so thankful for the school, district, and state that they have been able to create an environment for athletes to compete in a fun and safe place.