Youth sports resume this week

After being paused the past six weeks, youth sports are finally back!
Its return, along with the move to hybrid or in-person learning, gives students a more typical school routine.
“It’s something that provides some sort of normalcy to their lives, which is something they haven’t had much of the past year,” said Josh Williams, head coach of the Owatonna boys basketball team.
Blooming Prairie Activities Director Alison Mach agreed.
The return of extracurricular activities significantly benefits students’ lives, especially during the pandemic, said Mach.
“With everything going on right on now, the more we can provide safe opportunities for our kids, the better it is for them,” she said.
The main direct reason youth sports benefit students is those who participate in a sport generally exercise more and are healthier than those who don’t.
The physical benefits are obvious, but Williams also said less-obvious mental health benefits are just as crucial.
“It has, in a good way, a major impact on the mental well-being,” he said. “When you’re a student-athlete, a healthy body and a health mind go hand in hand. By re-engaging in sports, they’ll physically and mentally get into a better state.”
He also said sports help students in the classroom because they’ll be developing their time management skills, focus on good life habits and sharpen their minds to keep up with the mental aspect of playing sports.
Sports also help students’ grow socially, Mach said. “Interacting and competing with peers is a really important part of development.”
Overall, she said extracurricular activities improve students’ whole mindset.
“They’re more excited to be involved, more engaged and happier all around,” she said.
The students who may be the happiest that extracurricular activities are returning are seniors because they wouldn’t get another opportunity to represent their high school if this season had been cancelled.
“Activities are a really important part of the whole senior year experience,” she said. “I’m glad they get to spend time with their teammates and coaches.”
While the student-athletes and coaches will be there, the number of fans, if any, who can attend games remains to be seen.
The Minnesota State High School League will soon inform school districts across the state how many fans can attend indoor games.
While having a limited number of fans isn’t ideal, Williams said his team knows it has the community’s support.
“We feel pretty fortunate with the support we typically get. It just won’t be in person this year,” he said.
Regardless of how many fans can attend games, Mach said she’s happy the school district can provide its students the chance to participate in extracurricular activities.
“We just want to provide opportunity for our athletes to compete. If that means little or no fans, then we’re happy that they at least get the opportunity to compete,” Mach said. “Our goal is to provide as normal opportunities as possible for our students and athletes.”