Winter sports are back in session at HHS, but during all games, athletes need to wear masks. This is a requirement so that everyone can be as safe as possible during their sporting event. Masks need to be worn at all times, in the correct way, which is covering the nose.

Zilynn Watt, a freshman female wrestler, informs us on how difficult she finds it to wrestle with a mask.

“On the mats, the difficulties that I have with the mask is them going down and sweating and them sticking to my face!” Watt says. “Off the mats, my acne has been getting bad from the mask recently and I get out of breath easier.”

The mat floors get sweaty, causing the mask to stick to her face and cause a distraction. The mask hasn’t been helping her acne as she says, and it’s harder for her to contain a constant breathing pattern.

Jayvon Sanders, a freshman male basketball player, has a completely different view of the masks. 

“I rarely have any trouble with the mask during games, only after a long workout is when I experience any fault with the masks.”

Despite the fact that both athletes have to wear masks, they both have different experiences with their sport and the masks. 

Masks bother a lot of people, but are they allowed to put it down for a little bit, or is the mask supposed to be on no matter what?

Mr. Steve Kelly, HHS Athletic Director, states what St. Louis County Health is making mandatory.

 “So the rule issued from St. Louis County Health states that all persons are to wear a mask at all times,” Kelly said. “Obviously, if someone is having difficulty breathing or there is a medical situation, we would have them remove their mask and worry about COVID later.”

Depending on the situation, masks may have to be removed, but for the most part, St. Louis County made it a mandatory requirement to keep masks on at all times.

With sports, masks prevent inhaling anything that can cause you to get COVID-19, but what about all the touching and physical interaction that goes on? How is a mask going to prevent CoronaVirus, when there is no distance maintained?

Rather than only wearing a mask, Watt gives out some ideas for other possible precautions that can be taken during a wrestling match.

Watt said, “Some precautions I think that can be taken during this sport event are like the limit in numbers such as teams, spectators, coaches, ect. and for us to switch singlets after every match! “

Changing singlets, singlets are the uniform a wrestler wears during each match, may be an open option to look into. There are no spectators allowed at this moment, but limiting the amount of teams allowed in the gym may also be an option. 

With different sports, there may be different precautions that could be taken or maybe there aren’t any other precautions that can be taken. 

“Rather than only wearing a mask, Watt gives out some ideas for other possible precautions that can be taken during a wrestling match.” mentioned Sanders. 

At HHS, for basketball, your only given two jerseys. With only 2 jerseys, changing after every quarter, wouldn’t be very likely. You can’t necessarily maintain any distance, because the whole point is to not leave the other team open. 

The differences in sports changes all the precautions that are in place right now. The athletes and their masks even have different experiences.