With COVID-19 protocols becoming more lenient during the past few months, high schools in Santa Ana are reopening their sports programs. At Segerstrom High School, sports are allowed back with restrictions. Each sport is put into a tier depending on how much physical contact there is in the respective sport. Sports have gone back this month and have started practicing. Most programs are only participating in conditioning and aim to avoid physical contact.

However, there are sports that have started their season and have started competing. Such as sports with minimal physical contact like tennis, track and field, among others. Basketball players will be put into pods in order to have minimal contact. Athletes are not allowed to touch each other’s basketballs. Many sports are able to continue to practice normally with minor protocols. 

Every sport has very similar protocols such as wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart, not sharing water bottles, and frequently putting on hand sanitizer. To participate in sports, each student must have completed a physical exam beforehand and  complete a COVID-19 waiver. Before each practice, a QR code check-in has to be completed. Each sport also has a designated area to practice, every sport also has a spot to meet up and check in. 

It is important for students to follow protocol because the SAUSD can shut down a school’s athletic program if it seems they are not following the protocols. The sports that are not able to have a season will just practice as a team in person until the end of the year as long as everyone follows the COVID-19 protocols.