The Shanghai Ministry of Education prohibited school sports competitions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has not stopped SLAS from forming a volleyball team. The team will train on campus, with measures in place such as social distancing and taking temperatures daily.
The Ministry of Education stated that schools could not compete, but practice is allowed. Each team practicing on campus can only have a maximum of four players at a time.
During drills or games, the players have to stay at least one meter apart. Players also are banned from wearing masks outside because they will have difficulty breathing. The volleyball team in 2019 could train regularly without restrictions because these rules did not yet exist.
The team has around 20 people in two training sessions- which is not as much as before. Students who have AP tutoring on Thursdays cannot make it to practice, affecting their chemistry and strength. Every student has to leave school before five o’ clock, so players can only have an hour of training once a week instead of an hour and a half every single day like last year.
The four coaches of the team, Ms. Shandrea, Ms. Kelli, Mr. Luke, and Ms. Charmaine, organized the practices.
Ms. Kelli said,“ We do not have an answer as to if / when teams will be able to play another school.” She continued saying,“ We will have one practice a week for an hour.”
Since the outbreak in Shanghai began, the city banned sports competitions between schools to stop the epidemic. The school does not know when the government will lift the restrictions, so everything can go back to normal.
11 | SLAS TIMES