On November 15, 2020, Governor Whitmer of Michigan shut down all organized sports for a minimum of 3 weeks. But there have been a couple of very lucky teams that have still been able to practice together as long as the players and coaches follow certain guidelines that include wearing a mask, keeping a 6ft distance when capable, and many more. But for the teams to continue to practice they can not be participating in an organized sport, which means that the coaches will not be able to coach their players throughout most of the practice.

⅞ grade girls Plymouth Canton Force Basketball Assistant Coach Kristy Flavin stated, “I would rate the difficulty of practicing with the guidelines at 7.” She also claimed, “At a normal practice we would be gearing up for upcoming games, so our practices would be focused toward skill work and what we did worst at during our past game, but the pros [of having to practice with the guidelines and no games] would be that we can really drill down on basic skill work and the stuff we [the players] will need to know forever.”

Tess O’Donnell, Plymouth Canton Force basketball player and West student stated, “I would rate the difficulty of practicing with the guidelines a 7 or an 8. It’s really hard to practice with masks all the time, go into Hivelocity with nobody there, not have our parents being able to watch, and have our temperature checked at the door. I am also used to doing lots of scrimmaging and 1v1 work but now with the guidelines we are doing lots of drills and individual work.”

High-velocity sports center, a sports center where lots of players had been practicing, as stated earlier, has been nearly empty during some nights that would have gyms and fields packed if it weren’t for the pandemic. But most of the courts aren’t being used by organized teams anymore, they are normally occupied by a group of adults or teenagers that have decided to play for fun. 

Some sports other than basketball that have been suspended are soccer, baseball/softball, football, and Volleyball. The PCCS Middle school volleyball season was also affected by the Michigan Health Department’s guidelines and its season is postponed until further notice.

Even if you are not one of those players still practicing you can always still get outside and practice whatever sport you would be participating in whether it’s conditioning like running a couple of miles or maybe shooting at a basketball hoop at your school or practicing your footwork at a local park.