NEWS Winter student-athletes switch to virtual Deegan Cornelius staff writer After the confirmed four positive cases of COVID-19 by the school officials, many winter sport student-athletes have begun to worry their season may be at risk. With the upcoming basketball, wrestling, swim, club volleyball, and cheer season and an increase in COVID-19 cases as Scott County moved to orange status last week, athletes have had worries about being quarantined for a majority of — or all of — their season. To counter this, some student-athletes have switched or contemplated switching to virtual learning, especially boys and girls basketball players. “The reason I chose to go virtual was so that I could stay healthy and hopefully not get quarantined anytime during the season. We could have games cancelled any day due to COVID, and I did not want to take the chance of missing any games we have left due to being quarantined for two weeks,” Zoe Zellers (12), center for the girls basketball team, said. Forward Hannah Stutsman (10) has also switched to virtual for the girls’ basketball
Photo by: Sara Denhart
New trend: Winter sport student-athletes switch to virtual school in hopes to limit contact with other students at school and save their seasons. The girls basketball season opened on Oct. 30 at Southwestern High School with a scrimmage. Zoe Zellers (12) and Kady Clancy (12) speak with their coaches before heading out on the floor.
season. “I have chosen to go virtual due to COVID-19 reasons. Me and a few of the other team members decided it was best
if we went online for [the] season. I think this season will be fun and exciting,” Stutsman said. With the county going to an orange lev-
el advisory after reaching more than 650 cases and 20 deaths due to COVID-19 as of press time, going virtual may become more common for athletes in the coming seasons. Games will be further limited in spectators under the orange level. However, not every athlete can go virtual. “I think that going virtual for me would be hard because I need to be able to talk to my teachers in person to understand assignments,” Olivia Fugate (10) said. “I plan to be as safe as possible while doing in person by limiting my contact with others, washing my hands, and wearing my mask.” Still, for Zellers, she wants to play her senior season, which spring sports athletes last year did not get a chance to do when schools closed nationwide during the beginning of the pandemic in the U.S. “This is something that had to happen for me if I wanted to play my entire senior season. For this plan to be fully effective, I will be virtual until our season ends in February.” Zellers said.
Two local Regal Cinemas close as movie industry slows Alyssa Williams staff writer After months of being closed due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders from the governor, Regal Cinemas closed its doors again after reopening for two months on Oct. 15. No date of reopening has been set for the Regal River Falls in Clarksville, Regal Seymour or Regal New Albany. “It’s kinda sad, considering that a lot of people can’t see new movies,” Avery Ken-
dall (12) said. “All the new movies are coming out on streaming services, which many people living in rural areas or spotty internet (like me!), don’t have or can’t get.” Regal’s decision to shut down came after new movies were being shelved as new movies were not being as quickly produced due to COVID-19. The latest movie, which was supposed to be released in Oc-
tober, “No Time to Die,” the newest James Bond movie, was pushed back to release in 2021. Not only do theaters experience the problem of no new releases, but they have to make sure to follow safety procedures with cleaning and socially distancing. “...Closing the cinemas was a responsible and necessary action on behalf of the company and once there is a vaccine for the
virus and the virus stops spreading,” said Jessica Backus, SHS alumna. Students, like Kendall, understand the need to return back to the ways before the global pandemic changed everything. People miss their lives before COVID-19. “People will want to do things that they used to do, such as go to movies, which would create a demand for the service and encourage them to open,” Kendall said.
Nov. 2020, Issue 2
News
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