When the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, academics were not the only aspect of school that was disrupted. School sports had to be paused as well. In March of 2020, boys’ tennis lasted merely a week until the school was locked down. Fast forward to a year later, and tennis, as well as other sports, was resumed, but not without a number of modifications. 

“Last year, we wore masks basically the entire time except for when we were playing an actual match. We didn’t shake hands with the opposing team during the lineup like we usually did either,” junior tennis player Alyssa Yen said.

These small changes impacted the sport drastically. Due to social distancing and other safety precautions from COVID 19, even small actions such as shaking hands with opponents that players had once taken for granted had been eliminated.  Additionally, during the team banquet, the players were not allowed to sit together with teammates or with the coach, but only with their families.

This year, there were many concerns regarding how tennis would be dealt with, but the situation has managed to improve from the year prior.  Nevertheless, precautions are still being taken.

“There’s a water container which the players drink from, but only the coach is allowed to press the button to release the water,” junior Eileen Hu said.

The team’s safety precautions help the players engage in as little physical contact as possible with equipment. Additionally, during the time on the bus to a game, masks are still required, as students have to pack together in a tight space. 

“I dislike how we have to stay packed in the buses to get to the courts. It’s so uncomfortable, but I’m still glad we get to talk with each other,” sophomore Tia Soussou said.

Yet, despite the challenges off the court, the team is off to a solid start this year, having won 7 game days out of 9, or 30 games out of 45 so far this season. This is helping raise the spirits of the players, and they are very excited to win more and more games.

“The season so far is great,” senior Claire Zheng said. “We have a pretty good rate of wins to losses, and it really does feel like this season will be the best for NA by far.”

For Yen, the tradeoff of needing to take safety precautions in return for being able to have a regular season is well worth it. Alyssa saw the disadvantages of having to wear makes and safety procedures, but noticed that it was necessary in order for the team to be able to play throughout the season.

“I was worried about how the tennis team would function this year, but I’m so happy to see that we can play with the simple tradeoff of safety precautions. It’s honestly a blessing,” Yen said.