For the second straight year, Connecticut's winter high school sports are impacted by the pandemic.
Last winter, little was known about COVID-19 and there were just a handful of confirmed cases in the state. Protests broke out when state championships were cancelled.
As this year's winter game schedule opened Monday evening, exhaustive studies about the virus have been done and more than 263,000 state residents have been infected.
With the dangers of the virus now clear and its impact extensive, administrators are adjusting on the fly to ensure the twelve-game schedule will be as safe as possible for everyone involved.
Unlike college teams and the NBA, Connecticut's high school basketball players are wearing masks during game action. Each quarter of the game includes a one-minute "mask break."
Social distancing remains a goal, with many schools live-streaming their games to allow team parents to watch from home. East Catholic High School in Manchester decided to allow one family member per player to attend games in person.
East Catholic Athletic Director Jon Dahlquist says, "It is tough because everyone wants to see their child play, obviously in person... everyone's been very understanding and supportive and the safest way to have their students out there, they appreciate."
Like Dahlquist, other high school administrators have been hard at work getting everything ready so players are safe, parents are satisfied and game procedures align with CIAC protocols.
AD David Humiston of Bolton High School says, "Getting everything started was nerve wracking, from making sure everyone is sitting in the right spots, to where the officials are going to be, to the timer (and official scorer) and having a barrier between them and making sure the camera and everything was working."