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