Basketball seasons continue with new mask rule

The past year has been anything but typical and CIHS boys’ and girls’ basketball teams are dealing with new challenges due to the threat of Covid-19.

First off, having a season wasn’t a certainty. Things looked particularly gloomy once the school went into full-distant learning mode in November. Did our Bluejacket Hoopsters even think there would be a season?

“I was honestly not sure,” Junior Mikayla Aumer said. “All I could do was keep working on my game and prepare myself if there was one.”

Boy’s player Rodrigo Mork commented, “I really didn’t think that we would have a basketball season, but when the Governor issued a lockdown, my hopes went up because I hoped there would be fewer cases and my odds of playing basketball would be higher.”

One huge change for both boy and girl cagers both have to wear masks while practicing and playing.

Senior Chase Carstensen was surprised when he was told they would have to play with masks on.  “For me the biggest challenges are breathing, and seeing,” he added. “The breathing aspect of it is just something you have to get used to and condition yourself to. The visual aspect of the mask isn’t that big of a problem, however I sometimes find that with some angles I can’t see as well as I normally would. The mask also move around so it’s a constant distraction to adjust it.”

Mikayla Aumer said she wasn’t surprised after finding out hoopsters would be required to wear masks but, “I was surprised that sports like wrestling which is also a contact sport would not have to wear masks while basketball players were required to.” 

 (With the masks) “It can also be hard to hear your teammates and coaches so communication can be a problem,” said Bluejacket Aiyana Knight. 

Has policing masks become one more way a referee can call a foul?  Not really.  Most refs will simply remind a player to pull up his or her mask and then go on with the game.

Rodrigo Mork said he isn’t worried about the ball transmitting Covid because “My coach, Mr. McDonald, does a great job assigning people to give hand sanitizer to players when they get subbed out of the game.”

The girls players all wear black masks for team unity while the boys wear any mask that has the team logo on it. Even the referees wear masks during the games. Some of them have whistles under their masks while others have hand held electronic whistles. 

All four players interviewed for this article agree that the masks should be worn now but hope they go away once the pandemic is over.

Top to bottom Rodrigo Mork, Chase Carstensen, Mikayla Aumer, and Aiyana Knight.