Long Island students have just received the news that sports will be starting back up on February 1st! Considering the events since last March, senior students were unable to have their last game of baseball, basketball and other sports. The same fear existed this school year and many students worried there would be no sports all-year-round. 

Governor Cuomo said that high-risk sports including wrestling, basketball, hockey, football, volleyball and more were able to begin on February 1st if local health authorities approved it in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Nassau County Executive, Laura Curran, also gave a statement saying that Nassau County could work with each school to safely allow sports to begin. You can find more information on this through Twitter, other social media platforms and news outlets.

Since this information was recently released, I haven’t heard many people’s input on it. I’m sure it will cause much controversy. Many people may be cautious since cases are still rising on Long Island. Allowing sports to begin may cause people to question whether or not this is good for the pandemic we are facing. Will this cause an additional rise in cases? Will this put us in another lockdown? 

A friend of mine who does not live on Long Island stated: “I think that sports coming back on Long Island is a bit risky but it is helping students and adults return to normal life.” Another friend said, “I don’t know about this change. I think it can cause spikes in the cases of covid-19 and I think that the virus needs to be nonexistent before starting anything up again. People are dying and we need to stay safe.” I agree with both opinions. Students suffered due to not being able to play the sport they love. It is very hard on students and this can potentially ruin their high school experience. However, I hope that if opening up sports causes a rise in cases and it gets too dangerous, sports will be shut back down. We need to let the students have fun while also keeping people safe.  

I wonder if other states and counties are starting sports up for their communities and how this will affect the number of cases. With the vaccine rolling out, things are sure to get better. However, most of the public hasn’t received the vaccine yet, so there is no telling what could happen. 

The pandemic is serious.  Keeping people safe is a top priority. Although I am afraid that starting student sports again will cause an increase in cases, I think this will also help in the shift back to normal life. We have to work together to ensure the public’s safety during this time. What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with the decision of bringing back high risk sports? Or, is it too risky?