Competitive Sports Might Return Next Year
14 | SLAS TIMES by Nikolay Mesropyan
Although SLAS Sports teams did not compete in the 2020-2021 school year , there will be more chances for sports teams to compete next year . Because Shanghai has not had any major outbreaks of COVID-19 since the end of 2019 , the Shanghai Ministry of Education might permit international schools to compete next year .
Soccer coach Nicholas Leen said , “ We are still working on trying to get a game , but currently , we haven ’ t found any .” He continued by saying that “ If we do manage to secure a game , there would be a home game at our school and [ an ] away game also .”
There are rumors that international schools in Shanghai are already playing against one another . Because there is no information on international school websites like SAS and SCIS , their games would only be friendly and not part of the season . Schools can invite other schools to play a friendly match . SLAS ’ s athletic coordinator , Alex Brown , along with the coaches of the soccer team , are working on trying to find a school to arrange a game .
In the United States , according to the National Federation of State High School Association ( NFHS ), states like California and Washington that have increasing COVID-19 cases , either do not have competitions planned or have alternative schedules for their current and following year . In states where pandemic conditions are stable , like New York and Massachusetts , schools will follow normal competition schedules .
It is difficult to predict whether Sports teams in the 2021-2022 school year will have their regular seasons , or even have any friendly games because everything depends on how the pandemic evolves .