Many activities are in question with the pandemic and have left many students and teachers wondering what’s going on with sports. I interviewed Mr. Miazga, the varsity baseball coach about the current situation with spring sports and what he’s doing with his team. Even though sports are unclear as of now, teams are doing what they can to prepare for when they get back together.
I asked him what the current plan is for the spring sports season. He responded that “As of now Baltimore Public City Schools have all three seasons; fall, winter, and spring in 6 weeks intervals starting in February.” He believes that the spring season will happen sometime in April and that teams will have weeks before that for preparation.
When asked if he was doing any online video calls in preparation for the spring season he said that the “baseball team has been meeting virtually on zoom twice a week during knight time. We’ve been doing light weight training during that time…we’ve been stretching our shoulders and legs with weights.” He said that during knight time they had been checking up with everyone and watching baseball movies as well. “It’s been hard, spirits are low because we lost the season last year and a lot of my older players have other commitments during knight time.” Even with the difficulties, he was quick to say that “we’ve been doing the best we can.”
I asked if he thought the seniors would have a final sports season this spring, he thought if things go according as planned they will get the spring season, but he’s unsure if that will truly happen.
I asked what type of precautions would you as a team take to keep players safe. He was clear that he would follow medical advice and safety precautions if they were to go back in person. The locker room and changing situations worried him more because “ they’re close quarter and player have to be near each other”
I followed up by asking if he thought fans would be allowed to watch or not. I didn’t realize, but he mentioned that the baseball field doesn’t have any stands. He expects “that the directives will be people can watch, but you have to maintain social distances…I don’t think that the system will ever be your not allowed to come and watch your kid play, because if I’m a parent concerned about the virus, I would want to know if the protocols were being followed.” He said that the baseball games in particular don’t get very crowded and that people can spread themselves out along the hill.
Lastly, I asked if the spring sports season happens would schools be allowed to play other schools or not. He said “I expect that we will be playing other teams…I don’t know if the risk to other teams is that much more than the risk to ourselves.” He said that they will have to be safe regardless, but there’s no way for them to be able to be in a bubble and that they’ll do everything they can to be safe.
From what I gathered after talking to Mr. Miazga about the spring sports season, many things still seem undecided as of now. Teams are doing all they can to stay together during these hard times while staying safe. Even though times are hard right now we’ll get through them and remember to keep your head up.
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