By ABBY GROFF
Staff Writer
El Diamante’s first football game took place on Friday, August 27th. Due to many COVID-19 guidelines being lifted, a lot of us have continued on with our normal lives. As students have returned to campus, sporting events have also resumed. With such a long school shutdown finally coming to an end, this first home game was highly anticipated amongst players and students alike. But what comes along with a crowded outdoor event? The concerns of contracting the virus.
The stands at the game were packed. Of course, everyone was missing the energy of attending a school game. This resulted in friends and family watching packed together tightly like sardines. On Instagram @all4theminers shared several photos of fans enjoying the event from the stands. Little to no one was wearing a mask correctly or even at all. After a back-and-forth debate of whether spectators should be permitted to attend the football games, eventually it was decided that they were good to go. Because the event was outside, though, masks were not mandated. In most California cities mask-wearing is only required in indoor spaces to prevent the spread. Being outside is less of a concern because of people being spread out, but what about schools’ sporting events? It becomes worrying seeing the number of people there are shoulder to shoulder, especially with many students already being confined at home for over a week. It’s essentially the same as sitting in a classroom for over an hour. Unless spectators can spread out a bit, the risk of becoming sick is high.
Hopefully following the football game the number of El Diamante students being quarantined doesn’t increase drastically. It would be unfortunate that the number of cases gets so bad we lose what we’ve worked so hard to earn: a normal year. It’s certain that everybody wants to continue attending games, clubs, or even lunch (last year we had lost that due to having a Track A/B schedule). With another upcoming football game this Friday, it’s expected that fans will again flood the stands. Mask-wearing shouldn’t have to be required with everything returning to normal, but it would be amazing to see it encouraged more than it already has been in order to keep the games around.