After missing a whole year of school related activities and events, Eleanor Roosevelt student athletes have returned to another season of high school sports. Currently, seniors are participating in their last season of fall sports which includes most notably football, girls and boys soccer, and volleyball. 

These programs and their athletes have experienced many changes in light of the pandemic. Athletes must be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing to participate in their sport. Additionally, there was a noticeable decrease in participation in certain sports after the return to school. Tyler Pulik, 3 year Boys Varsity Soccer Captain, stated that the decreased participation was “a shock and definitely affected the start of [their] season.” He reported that usually “70-80 boys” tryout but this year there were only 45. 

PGCPS allowing sports this year considering the strict rules regarding the pandemic was a win for student athletes, but more specifically senior athletes. In a survey conducted by the NCAA on 25,000 college athletes, a connection was found between mental health and in-person classes and athletics. Athletes in their senior year and those attending fully virtual classes reported “heightened mental health concerns” including “anxiety, hopelessness, and feelings of being depressed.” It was found that participating in sports alleviated some of these negative feelings.

Regardless of these hardships our athletes have had to overcome due to the pandemic, Roosevelt’s teams have still been successful. Isabela Martins, Captain of the Girls Varsity Soccer team, reflected on their huge 1-0 win over the Bullis School, a private school in Potomac, MD. She expressed that the team “played a great game” and beating Bullis was “a happy moment for all of us where we were working hard towards the same goal.”