Due to the tragic series of events launched by the infamous COVID-19 virus, all sport-related activities were cancelled by decree of the Ventura Unified School District (Ventura Unified). Many athletes have been left in the dark about the fate of upcoming seasons for the 2020-2021 school year, but Foothill Tech is working tirelessly to update all students and their families of any new information.

This year’s summer sports activities are yet to be confirmed as permanent events on any scheduling calendars, but new information from Foothill Tech’s Athletic Director, Jamaal Brown, states that all summer sports practices or meetings of any kind will be deferred until at least June 25. 

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has implemented new policies for summer-time dead periods for all sports. In previous years, a three week dead period was granted to each sport, and was to be enacted at any given interval throughout the summertime, depending on each sport. Under the new requirements, all sports will have a common two week dead period with no practices, games, weight training or meetings of any kind. 

Foothill Technology’s overarching dead period will occur from June 12 to June 25, 2020, meaning that all sports will be postponed for at least another seven weeks. 

Without school sanctioned sports and access to any gyms or fields, many athletes are struggling to stay in shape for future seasons. However, the physical education staff at Foothill are doing their best to provide resources for students to stay in shape and healthy. Faculty members Emily Stevens, Ben Gossard and Kenneth Reeves all have been working tirelessly to provide workouts that are accessible for students 

While it is difficult to be an athlete in the face of a pandemic, these students are no stranger to overcoming obstacles. For now, the best that these teams can do is work hard to stay in shape while at home and attempt to look beyond the current situation and into the future.