While Clover Hill students cannot attend school in-person, Chesterfield County has continued to allow winter sports to resume. VHSL winter sports include basketball, swimming, indoor track and wrestling. 

Sophomore Corbin Jensen is a junior varsity basketball player. Although the team, as a whole, started slow, Jensen has been a dominant force in the painted area of the court, grabbing rebounds and converting them into second chance points.

 “I am extremely excited for the season as it will be an interesting opportunity to see how the up and coming freshmen perform and to just get back on the court again,” said Jensen.

 However, even with the excitement of getting back on the court, Jensen and a few of his teammates are still nervous of playing through the pandemic. 

“I am a little nervous about the upcoming season, in terms of the pandemic as we don’t know when everything could get shut down,” Jensen said. 

Sophomore Jack Bauersachs, an indoor track player, is also excited about the start of his own season but mentions his concerns for the upcoming year.

“I am a little nervous about the upcoming season with the state of the pandemic. I think we need to be very cautious, wear masks, and limit races to a certain number of people,” Bauersachs said. 

The fact is that the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths have continued to increase over the winter. According to the CDC, the number of cases have increased by 107,489 and the death total has increased by 2,820 over the past seven days (information recorded on February 8, 2021). 

 Though COVID-19 is a real threat, players and coaches alike were excited for the winter season. 

“I am excited to be running again even though things are definitely different,” Bauersachs said. 

Jensen has shown his improvements in his recent performances on the court. 

“I feel like the hard work I put in on my skills over the summer will be reflected in my performances on the court this season”, Jensen said. 

Once again, there are many worries and fears that COVID-19 can cause for people, coaches and players remain cautious with new rules and regulations.

Varsity basketball coach Jim Wahrman views the COVID-19 protocols for the basketball season as needed. These regulations include taking the temperature of players and coaches, making sure players have their own water bottles, wearing masks when they are not on the floor playing, social distancing on the bench with chairs six feet apart and disinfecting the balls and doors.   

“We have three returning players and have brought up eight players from the junior varsity team. Everyone is excited about getting to play,” Wahrman said.

Wahrman’s strategy for the season has changed with this relatively new varsity team and the limited amount of full practices. 

“We want to play as fast as possible and do a lot of full court pressing,” Wahrman said.  

Any sports season may not be able to complete its full set of scheduled matches, but the excitement continues to rise, players and coaches are all hoping for the best and safest ways possible to have fun and compete in these athletic events.