Thoughts On Season 2 Sports: Disappointed But Determined

It has been nearly two weeks since the start of season two sports in AISG. Students had an opportunity to accumulate their experiences and improve on their skills either as dancers, swimmers, table tennis players, or basketball players. However, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, athletic regulations underwent significant changes, preeminently the cancellation of APAC and numerous other major tournaments. Let us hear some of student athletes’ thoughts on their experiences so far.

Ethan Y., a freshman at AISG, says that his experience in the basketball team is so far going “pretty well,” and is “happy to be able to go to basketball practices” despite the ongoing pandemic. He also added his thoughts upon the cancellation of major tournaments, commenting, “it’s very sad that we don’t get to compete in tournaments like APAC, which is a good opportunity to meet new people and improve on your skills.”

Akimi L., a sophomore swimmer at AISG, expressed her despondency regarding the cancellation of swimming competitions, commenting “I am very, very, very depressed that APAC tournament is canceled,” especially as she was “looking forward to [the APAC tournament] since the last year.”

Another student athlete, Tyler K., who is a senior as well as the captain of the boys’ basketball team, remarked on the current situation as “extremely sad and frustrating.” He added that “It is hard to accept that we can’t represent our school in major tournaments for two years in a row.” As basketball requires significant physical contact, he predicted that “even friendly matches would not likely take place.” Besides the cancellation of tournaments, he additionally mentioned that “We still have a lot of work to do in practices as this year’s basketball team only has three returning players, which means that we have to build new chemistry and work on our skills at the same time.”

Mandy C., a sophomore who is part of the dance team, says that she is “happy about [the] dance team still having opportunities to perform, despite the cancellation of APAC.” As to date, she says that the dance team has done two small performances for faculty members and students at AISG and hinted that “[they] will have a final grand performance at the end of the season.”

Anderson F., a junior “newbie” swimmer at AISG, says that his experience in swimming is “so far, so great,” as he feels that he is continuously improving on his skills. In contrary to the athletes above, he commented that he does partially feel “relieved” that tournaments and competitions have been canceled, especially as he did not “feel comfortable competing with others yet.” However, he added that he is “looking forward to participating in tournaments next year.”

Although there are partial differences, the general sentiments among these student athletes seemed to be frustration. As a student athlete myself, I was among one of the many athletes who found it was extremely aggravating to see all the major tournaments being canceled. While it was understandable, it surely wasn’t favorable.