Wilsonville’s season 1 sport practices conclude
Girls soccer practice during season 1. Practices have been allowed with mandated masks, social distancing, check in forms, and cohorts.
Nearly every aspect of school has been affected by the COVID pandemic, but the absence of fall sports seemed to hit students particularly hard as they represent a way to destress from school. In August of 2020, OSAA announced that the traditional sports schedule would be replaced by four seasons: season 1 consisting of only practices, and seasons 2, 3, and 4, for winter sports, fall sports, and spring sports, respectively.
Consequently, in late September, Wilsonville athletes were permitted to begin practices outside, following the necessary safety precautions. These practices brought a sense of joy to many students’ days as they allowed for a small sense of normalcy and an opportunity to escape online school and the confines of one’s own home.
Junior Karina Borgen practiced girls soccer this fall and believes that season 1 was a success. She described that although one significant disadvantage was the no contact rule, making scrimmages impossible, “there’s so much more to soccer than just contact and I think we took advantage of that and still improved.” Borgen also emphasizes the obvious work the coaching staff put into running practices and integrating the whole program including new faces, noting, “We had a great class of freshmen come in and it shows that our program is going to be in good hands in the future!”
Overall, the addition of fall sports, even just practices, brought a light back to Wilsonville. Borgen adds that, “It was nice to get out there and have face-to-face contact and real conversations with others. It made Wilsonville feel whole again, like a community united by sports again.”
However, with the conclusion of season 1, it still remains unknown whether the games intended for seasons 2-4 will play out as planned. There seem to be more unknowns than ever before, but hopefully our Wildcats will be back on the pitch come 2021.