Back in March of 2020, the world began going on lockdown, and everyone began to stay at home due to the pandemic. It was on exactly March 13th when Quartz Hill High School shut down and began online classes. It was also on that day when sports were not allowed to play or continue until further notice. Months passed, and still, sports teams did not play in LA County. That was until the end of February when there was finally news concerning the reopening of sports.

On February 24th, Zach Mercier, principal of Quartz Hill High School, sent out an email explaining how sports teams will resume. It said, “We received great news yesterday that we dropped within the threshold of cases vs. capital that allows the return of athletics in some capacity. This is great news, but we are not ‘cleared to play football (and most other sports) as of yet. CIF has made it clear that schools must follow all county guidelines…Coaches will communicate with athletes the moment we are cleared to play. As of now, we are preparing for the eventual comeback, and in some cases, we are ready to come back once we get the LA County go-ahead.” 

This was the first step towards going back to regular sports activities, even though limited. This will help ensure that the players are safe while getting the opportunity to begin to play sports. A week later, another email updated conditions for returning sports.

In Principal Mercier’s update, he announced the following: “We are excited to announce another milestone in our return to high school athletics. In alignment with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, moderate and high contact outdoor sports are permitted to resume practice. Two-team competitions are beginning Friday, February 26, 2021…Football is the current sport in-season, now eligible to compete. AVUHSD football programs can distribute helmets to student-athletes today to wear during their pod workout and hold their first team cohort practice tomorrow, February 26th. Golden League competition is anticipated to begin on Friday, March 19th. A full league game schedule is forthcoming…The Golden League’s first cross-country competition is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 6th. Baseball, Softball, and Soccer are eligible to begin team cohort practices on Friday, February 26th. These sports’ competitive season is anticipated to begin later this Spring, along with Golf, Tennis, Swimming, and Track & Field.”

This is a massive deal since California has been stricter than other states since it took the state a while before sports could resume. Other states like Arizona, Florida, Texas, and many more were allowed to continue playing sports, while California did not encourage playing actual sports games.

Currently, students and staff members are not allowed to attend any of the games as of now. Hopefully, one day in the following months, our district will be able to get to a point where it will be safe for students to attend games at some capacity to go back to a somewhat everyday high school life. For now, we will just have to wait for updates patiently.