Esteban Torres
Crimson Chronicle Reporter
It’s about time that boys basketball returned to Hollywood High. With tryouts having taken place on Nov. 1, the boys have started to prepare for the season once again. They said they are ready and eager to go into this season with everything they have. However, with the new season comes new challenges some of them have not faced before.
COVID-19, as we all know, greatly affected the student-athletes in many ways. They have had to adapt to a totally different system to the one they were used to just to play. For example, SAS senior and basketball player Mark Smith said that one of the biggest challenges he faced in this new system was “having to keep [his] facemask on when [he] was playing”.
This explains why the student-athletes are in support of having to take the mandatory vaccine: it eliminates the need to wear the bothersome masks during games. SAS junior Anthony Lopez, another player on the team, echoed this sentiment when asked about his thoughts on the mandate.
“I just want people to take it so everything can go back to normal, so we won’t have to wear these masks”, he said.
In addition to wearing masks, the basketball team has to resort to using the blacktop as a practice space in compliance with the school’s social distancing guidelines, something that makes it especially painful for them to train in the presence of harsh weather conditions. Despite these inconveniences, the athletes are in high spirits this season.
“This year we are looking to win it all. We all want to get a ring, be league champs”, said Lopez.
It is clear that the basketball players of this year’s team are determined to win big this season. It’ll surely be a season worth closely following.