New Look For Basketball in 2021
Precautions will be delivering a different look for this 2021 basketball season.
DENVER, CO – The Holy Family High School girls celebrate victory over Green Mountain during a CHSAA State Semifinal game on Thursday at the Denver Coliseum. (Photo by Jeremy Papasso/Staff Photographer)
January 15, 2021
After seeing all of the changes made to Season A of Colorado high school sports, there was no question that the following seasons would have to adapt to the pandemic and overcome the adversity it brings forth. For the Holy Family Tigers basketball teams, they will be in search of another state championship despite the change.
The first of many changes will be the schedule. Like the Colorado football season this past fall, there will be a shortened schedule for basketball. The basketball regular season will now be a 14 game schedule with just three nonleague games.
Post season will also be structured differently for 4A and 5A classes. The post season schedule will consist of a 32 team bracket rather than the original 48 that would have been proposed had there not been the pandemic.
Teams who make the post season will still be determined through rankings from Max Preps and CHSAA. Champions to come from each league will make playoffs automatically.
Teams will also have to participate in at least seven games top qualify for the post season.
Potentially the moist controversial of the new changes is the mandatory mask wearing that will occur. Not only do the players have to keep them on while on the side line, but also during play alike.
Wearing masks during play has been met with mixed reviews. On one hand, this is probably the safest way to keep players safe from the spread of the coronavirus. On the other, it will cause problems for players in regard to their breathing and their performances being affected by wearing said masks.
When being asked as to how they may be affected by this new rule, Sr. Alyssa Wells said, “It is really hard to breathe.”
The masks during play may lead to a sort of uproar from players and coaches. This may derive from the fact that the football season only required players to have to wear masks on the sideline or whenever they were not in play on the field.
“It’s kind of hard to breathe sometimes, and you get out of breath really quick,” senior Dylan Sanders remarking the mask mandate in basketball.
Unlike football, basketball will be in a closed area hence leading to strict protocols. Though there is a lot of change amongst the basketball community, the Tigers will continue to adapt and overcome adversity like they always have.
The Tigers will begin their season at Lutheran High School on Wednesday January 27.
