In the past few weeks, people have witnessed Park athletes not wearing masks to or from games. If the athletes have been participating in games without wearing masks, they’re at risk of catching COVID-19. This is very frightening especially since hybrid learning is just beginning. 

If athletes aren’t wearing a mask to and from the game, they’re raising their chances of catching COVID-19 and spreading it during hybrid. With contact tracing, the staff might trace it back to the wrong student. Hybrid itself is a big risk to take. If one or more students isn’t wearing a mask, hybrid might be canceled, and we’d all have to continue doing distance learning. 

According to athletic director Andrew Ewald, the rules and guidelines are simple. “The expectation is that if you are in the school, you have a mask on unless you are physically practicing, competing, and exerting yourself,” said Ewald. “Much like we can’t control what anyone does away from school, we can’t control what anyone does when they are not around their coaches. My hope would be that everyone follows the requirement and expectation because it is about all of us doing what we can to help keep each other safe.”

I’ve only been to one soccer game so far, and everyone I saw at the game was wearing masks. The only people I saw that weren’t wearing masks were the soccer players, and that was only while the warmup and the match. The other time they were all wearing masks.

The coaches and the teachers at Park frequently communicate with the students to wear masks. If students aren’t wearing masks, that’s not just a health risk they’re taking, it’s a health risk they’re forcing upon their peers and family. Although COVID-19 cases are increasing,  COVID-19 deaths are decreasing, according to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC). It’s still a really big gamble to not wear masks. If the athletes want to play, it’s simple, They have to wear a mask.