At a time of uncertainty, high school sports remain undecided as Heritage and other local high schools await approval from the California Department of Public Health and the Governor’s Office.

   The hit of COVID-19 resulted in the cancellation of 2019-2020 Heritage’s spring sports affecting seniors greatly in their inability to hold a senior night and compete for a league championship.

   But as fall sports experienced a starting time pushback from August to December, CIF has altered a regular three season-high school sports season to now a two-season sports season: Winter and Spring. Fall sports which now include volleyball, football, water polo, cross country, and competitive cheer are expected to start practices on December 7, 2020.

   With overlapping sports combined into two seasons, this should not be a problem for Heritage athletes who want to compete in multiple sports.

   “I have talked to a few school districts where they are going to make their athletes choose between sports and stick to one per season; this is not the case here, as we want our athletes to have as full of an experience as possible,” said Nate Smith, Heritage’s Athletic Director.

   Many sports have continued conditioning workouts since late June consistently each week, excluding the setbacks from poor air quality due to fires and a positive coronavirus case at Heritage back in July.

   For continued conditioning workouts, athletes must wear a mask exiting and entering the facilities and cannot attend if he or she is sick.

   Senior athletes have essentially felt helpless and confused as they have no choice in the deciding of their season.

   “I deeply care if our season happens or not; I worked too hard to have it all thrown away and especially for the seniors like myself, we just want to do something special this year,” said Heritage High Varsity Basketball Player Chinemerem Nwakor (12).

   Nwakor volunteered the idea of having hand sanitizer dispensers and regular temperature checks to ensure the safety of athletes, coaches, and possibly even the student body if they allow fans to attend games.

   “For football, the execution [of conditioning] was okay, not even close to perfect though, the masks weren’t well-enforced,” said Heritage High School Varsity Football Athlete Jamison Faulkner (12).

   Faulkner is excited for the possible return of their football season alongside him is his family who has pushed him every step of the way.

   Any updates can be seen through Heritage’s athletic department social media @heritage_athletics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. More up to date information will be sent out to families once received. Smith encourages all Heritage athletes to reach out to teammates and coaches during this troubling time and to continue to focus on the possibilities of the season.