2020-2021 was a very special time in sports. Last year we had a lot of ups and downs as a high school in general. Here’s a quick recap of how COVID-19 affected sports last year.

Last year was crazy in itself with school being part-time virtual, but the rules that came out in July from the NCHSAA (North Carolina High School Athletics Association) struck all of us by surprise. The first major change was that the largest fall sport, football, was now pushed to start after basketball season in February. Another big change was that masks were now required during games, and fans were limited. Most of the sports schedules were cut in half, typically only playing conference games to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

A major struggle and concern was that the athletes now had to participate with a mask on. This limited air intake and simply made it harder to preform. Another sigh from the athletic community was the limited fans per game. Typically at FHS, you can expect the Panther Den to be full for a home game, but instead was limited to around 35 people. Even the football games were limited, which was a concern for the school as far as gate fees.