The softball season began on Monday, Aug. 31 with a few changes due to COVID-19.
Intramurals Director Troy Walker said adjustments have been made to limit physical contact while playing the sport.
“It’s really the overcrowding issue, the contact issue,” Walker said. “…Those are the two biggest issues we had to tackle.”
Changes include adjusting game times and adding an additional base to limit contact.
“Nothing is going to be perfect with sports and COVID,” Walker said. “It’s not an easy thing to put together, but we’re going to make it work the best we can.”
In addition, batting practice before the game has been eliminated. In order to shorten the time when teams would be physically close to each other, players will go into the field to play as soon as they arrive.
“Come right before your game starts, leave when your game ends,” Walker said. “We understand that the social atmosphere of intramurals is extremely important. But that’ll just have to take place within the team.”
Grant Milano, a sophomore biology–pre-med major and softball player, thinks the coaches found the right balance when it came to balancing softball with safety.
“I don’t know if they could make it better without completely ruining the game of softball,” Milano said. “There are ways to make it more COVID friendly…but that would just take away from the game.”
The question many students may be asking is, ‘Is it safe?’
William Wallace, a freshmen nursing student, seems to think so.
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be,” Wallace said. “There’s not really any time that people would get contaminated between the health screenings and temp checks. Like outside of softball, I think it’ll be fine.”
