The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) has recently announced they are eyeing February 21 as the start date for the winter contact sports seasons. This is the second time in the past month that the start date of winter sports has been pushed back. Sports like gymnastics and boys’ swimming have been allowed to continue due to their contact-free environments, and they have been going on for multiple weeks.

Because of these drastic changes, athletes are doing a variety of things in order to prepare for the accelerated season.. For swimmer Brennan Rogowski ‘22, he has been going to a local gym everyday,swimming laps and working out. “This is helping me because I don’t know how long we’ll be able to swim, so it is always good to stay prepared.” Rogowski said.

Just this past weekend, the MHSAA wrapped up their playoffs for high school football. During the middle of the playoffs, the MHSAA postponed the rest of the high school football season, including the playoffs, on November 16th.

“I increased intensity of practice, and I’m making sure I have all six of my dives down for my first meet.”Diver Abram Mercer said. He also said it has been a very different this season with not being able to practice as much and not being able to work out.

For basketball, there has been a different story, as it was just given the green light to start practice last week. The MHSAA has also delayed the start of that season two times this year, and they are hoping for a February 21 start date. layers are forced to wear masks during practice and games as well.

“Well, part of me has just been ready to play, and part of me is thankful for it.” Basketball player Anthony Benard ‘23 said. “This has helped our team a lot because, without a summer season, we weren’t able to establish any of our plays or sets or even really the team, and with this time, this has given us chances to know our stuff going into the season. We have to stay motivated, be positive about this situation, and be ready for when the season does happen because anything can happen any day.”