Get Your Head In The Game

On Saturday, January 16, 9:00 AM, the long-awaited first sports game of the school year took place.

The girls’ and boys’ basketball game against Clifford was the first sports game held at the school since last year’s lockdown in February. Originally, the Canadian school and Clifford would have been the first teams played against in the first game of the school year. On Saturday, January 23, the girls’ and boys’ basketball team were able to attend the PRC tournament held in SIS in Shenzhen, involving schools like QSI and SIS.

Sports games are important for high schools, not only for the players involved but also for the school’s spirit which is boosted through supporting your high school sports team and watching their games after school. For most schools around the world, this opportunity was taken away because of COVID-19. Fortunately, thanks to low COVID-19 rates and Mr. Kydd’s careful planning and organizing, our boys’ and girls’ basketball teams had the opportunity to participate in actual basketball games between schools in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Everyday life has adapted and integrated to live with Covid-19, sports have also adapted to the “new normal”. Upon entering any school there is a roster containing the names of students and faculty that are allowed to enter the school along with a lot of hand sanitizers. To enter the school, you have to ensure you haven’t been demonstrating flu-like symptoms and that your temperature is normal. These new precautions and guidelines have been put in place to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. Two massive changes to a “normal” game would be that:

• Nonessential visitors, such as team managers, spectators, and parents are not permitted to attend and watch the game.
• After the game players aren’t allowed to shake hands with the opposing team

Although students couldn’t be physically present to support our basketball teams, the games were live-streamed for students, teachers, and parents to watch.

This basketball tournament is the first of many events that will be held with COVID-19 regulations. The tournament brought hope for many students around China for the near resumption of many other events like APAC, GISAC, and Tri-Cities.