With summer around the corner, many returning students have questions about what next year’s school year will be like. Many of those students are athletes itching to find out if their sport will take place next year and what it will be like. Fall sports like football, soccer, track and field, volleyball and tennis all have questions for if they will be able to suit up next season. Will ice hockey, basketball, track and field, and swimming be an option during the winter? Spring athletes including baseball, lacrosse, softball, tennis, and track and field have the same questions.

 With things starting to open up, there is more hope than previously for sports next year. The decisions are all up to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association a member of the NFHS that typically adopts NFHS rule books for New Jersey high school sports. Moving through recommended phases of returning to competition would be done in conjunction with state government and health officials, with required criteria to move from one phase to the next. Sports at a low risk include individual running events, throwing events (javelin, shot put, discus), individual swimming, golf, weightlifting, alpine skiing, sideline cheer, single sculling, cross country running (with staggered starts). At a medium risk are considered basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, tennis, swimming relays, pole vault, high jump, long jump, and girls lacrosse. And finally sports considered at a high risk are wrestling, football, boys lacrosse, and competitive cheer. 

If high school sports return, will fans be allowed and if so how many? How will the fans be spaced if allowed? Will masks be required? Until the fall sports season rolls around we can only ask questions, but there is hope for each sport.