Varsity girls basketball point guard Janna Holley works out with her team via Zoom every other day for an hour. While virtual practices are not ideal, she still finds a way to connect with her teammates. 

“The good thing is that you can see how hard everyone is working,” said Holley, a junior at Birmingham Community Charter High School. “Our coaches can see how hard we’re working. We can motivate each other because it’s hard to get that motivation, especially now on Zoom. I guess it brings us together in a different way.”

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) recently made the decision to postpone all in-person sports practices until further notice due to COVID-19. The CIF plans on keeping practices on hold until at least Jan. 1, according to a media release. At that time, the CIF will reassess California Department of Public Health guidelines. This decision came after some Daniel Pearl Magnet High School and Birmingham Community Charter High School teams had just started to practice in-person again. 

“When sports were cancelled, I had mixed emotions,” 15-year-old Holley said. “I was happy that we (wouldn’t) spread (COVID-19). I was also angry like, ‘why would they do that to sports’.”

Varsity boys water polo player Ryan Nevsky was able to practice in-person with his team for two days before practices closed down again.

“I actually felt pretty safe because there were a lot of different precautions,” said Nevsky, a sophomore. “I didn’t really see anything that could go wrong. I was really disappointed (when I found out practices were postponed).”

Although senior Amelia Sanchez is FaceTiming some of her friends on her varsity girls water polo team, she still finds it challenging to practice virtually.

“Honestly it sucks because we were able to get a little taste of going back and then it got taken away,” 17-year-old Sanchez said. “Obviously I was sad (when I found out practices were postponed), but not surprised.”