Over the holiday break, Austin returned to Stage 5 of the COVID-19 risk-based guideline in an effort to control the rising number of coronavirus cases. The guidelines for Stage 5 include many lifestyle changes for the greater Austin community. Some of these include avoiding all gatherings outside of the household, avoiding dining and shopping unless necessary, avoiding nonessential traveling and recommending businesses to operate only through curbside pickup and delivery. For LASA athletics, Stage 5 has meant adjustments to the overall number of matches played and how the players practice and compete.

LASA athletics is following the increased guidelines put in place by the city with the goal of keeping players and coaches safe during practices and games. Masks continue to be required, and coaches and players have to keep them on at all times unless they need a quick breather or to quickly drink water. 

One of the bigger changes is that a limited number of spectators are allowed at games. Some teams, like basketball, allow no spectators — only players, coaches and team managers on the sidelines. Other sports, like soccer and softball, allow two family members to attend per player. Additionally, fewer schools are participating in competitions this year.

Tennis coach Vincent Vizcaino has been required, like all LASA coaches, to enforce the mask mandate at all times. Players wear masks during all games and practices, practice social distancing and remain extremely aware of COVID-19 risks and potential exposure. To reduce the chances of exposure, AISD athletics considered cancelling all practices and competition for JV and freshman teams.

“Some sports are, from what I know, affected differently,” Vizcaino said. “But as far as tennis, we just have to make sure that we wear a mask. The main thing is to keep your distance when you’re not playing. That’s the advice, be careful. There was talk of not having or postponing the JV and freshman season as well, but that’s gone away.”

The tennis season has been affected all year due to COVID-19 because the sport practices in both fall and spring. There are structural changes that follow them into the spring season, such as fewer available schools competing. 

“In the fall, we would have actually played some tournaments, and we were prohibited from playing them,” Vizcaino said. “Although [the season] hasn’t been cut short for the spring as of yet, the tournaments that we’re going to play will not have as much competition as I am used to; for instance, instead of going to a tournament that might host anywhere from 20 to 30 schools, we might just be going to a tournament that only holds 12 to 16 schools. So the chance to see other schools and compete against other schools has been infringed upon.”

According to freshman track runner Clare Kalapti, participation on the team is lower than past years because many students and their families are worried about contracting COVID-19. Because of these small numbers, the team only has enough runners for a varsity team instead of both varsity and JV. 

“There aren’t many people showing up for practice, so my coach asked me to reach out to others and try to get more people to join the team,” Kalapti said. “A lot of people have responded back saying that they would but they can’t because their parents wouldn’t let them go because of Austin being in Stage 5. Yesterday I went to practice, and I was one out of two girls there. I’d say there are about 15 people on the team right now, which isn’t enough to make two teams. I think we’re probably just going to be one varsity team.”

Athletic coordinator Bryan Crews has been in charge of incorporating all of the changes being made to LASA’s sports this year. According to him, he has been focusing on adjusting to all of these changes to make sure that students still have the opportunity to participate in sports safely. Additionally, he says that it’s important for kids at this age to have the experience of competing, winning and losing because it’s something they might only be able to do at this time in their lives.

“Right now, the attitude is to just adjust and be flexible,” Crews said. “That’s what we’ve really been doing since last summer. We just roll with the changes and adjust as we go. I’m really happy that the kids who want to compete are able to, that they have the opportunity to do that. So any kind of restrictions or obstacles that we have to go through, I think, are worth it so we can give those kids the opportunity.”