Photo provided by Skagit Valley College Men’s Basketball Program
By Jordan Bell
Cardinal madness is underway. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the 25-4 Cardinal Men’s basketball team came to a stop in 2020. It is in all hopes in return to the court head coach Carl Howell and the Cardinals are looking for a spectacular 2021 season. Regulations and limitations are in place to accommodate concerns with the pandemic. With that being said do you believe the cardinals will complete the season in its entirety? Do you think the Cardinals will have a successful season?
With Skagit Valley being an up-and-coming dominant basketball organization, they bring a lot of excitement into the game. Fans are eager to watch the cardinals play just as eager as the players are to give fans a show to watch. As easily as it may seem COVID has affected players on and off the court. John Graham a writer for The Cardinal newspaper wrote “Of course, some of the limitations have been affecting occupancy in a gym, or even trying to enter a gym in general, which effects chemistry within the program.” As the cardinals undergo the season some new rules were put in affect as well. No full-length seasons, no championships and later season start dates are all factors changed due to the virus. One thing Coach Howell emphasized is that he wants his players to battle adversity and be the best man they can be. Howell describes “To excel in whatever profession they go into, and to be able to handle adversity”. The reopening plan of the season is April 3rd through June 5th. By questioning if the season would be played in full, or if anyone on the team would actually contract the COVID 19 virus, the team is looking forward for the rest of the season. Adam Irvine, an experienced basketball coach for 20+ years shared a few things about how he anticipated the Cardinals will go about the COVID 19 restraints.
After asking a few questions Irvine answered this about COVID setbacks. “In my opinion I think the Cardinals are going to pick up where they left off, they were looking very promising last year.” Irvine said that they have a good coach in Howell. When asked “Do you think limited capacity is necessary?”. Irvine then proceeded and said “Yes the safety of players and fans are important. I think they should allow more practices and side workouts for chemistry.”. Irvine has his best hopes for the program.
Controversy of this issue is that some people think it should be same restrictions as some people think that some restrictions should be uplifted. According to the Phase 3 plan established by Gov. Jay Inslee suggests the court will be at 50% capacity (max 400 people) and all persons in the building such as, athletes, officials, volunteers, and spectators will be included in the 400-person capacity. Facial coverings are required for everybody in the building minus the athletes actively playing in game. Since basketball is a low contact sports facial removing while in the game is allowed. In regard to that organizations obviously want full-length seasons, but the Cardinals have to follow the guidelines as we proceed throughout the pandemic. According to the Cardinals conference committee also known as the NWCA Sports Organization they state not only basketball follows these guidelines, each and every sport has some different type of guidelines to follow based off their contact level and activity level.
With the reopening of the programs within safety measures and guidelines the NWAC requirements are the same as the county/statewide requirements set by the Washington Health Department. While plans of action are taken there is still concerns about the safety of players and safety of staff. Each player will follow COVID 19 questionnaire and temperature check regulations prior to competing in events. Social distancing will still be required while in lines and while sitting courtside of events.
As you can see the progress of the COVID 19 outbreak was anything but a short while. After a long year of no sports during the lockdown, teams and organizations are recovering from loss time and practice. As it is a long recovery, SVC can be as dominant as they normally are and will strive for success. With Gov. Inslee’s phase 3 plan sports and academic schedules are slowly but surely getting back to normal schedules and events across the world, and here especially at SVC. Coach Howell and the Cardinals have got off to a speedy start as they are 5-1. While the pandemic is still affecting everyday life as it was a year ago, everyone is doing in their power what they can and what they think is best for the players and staff members. As members follow guidelines and players follow guidelines is looks like SVC is excited to announce the re-opening of all sports on April 26, 2021.
