Cal Survived Covid. Now, Back to Its Usual Problems

BERKELEY, Calif. — The football and men’s basketball seasons were long over, but other sports at the University of California, Berkeley, were in full array — water polo in the pool, rowing in the estuary, baseball on the diamond.

The Covid-19 pandemic had thrown most fall and winter sports into the spring, erecting logistical hurdles across campus. About two dozen teams and hundreds of athletes vied simultaneously in April for fields, courts, pools and arenas. Locker rooms, like most of Cal’s classrooms the entire school year, remained closed. Trainers and other support staff were spread thin.

Things were hopping. They were not normal.

On the last Saturday of April, the women’s lacrosse team held its final home game of the season at Memorial Stadium, where the football team plays in the fall. It was Senior Day. There were more players on the field than fans in the stands.

One by one, the seniors were introduced through the loudspeakers, their smiling mugs posted on the big stadium scoreboard, to a smattering of applause. With no parents around — too many restrictions — each was escorted onto the field by a teammate. They walked through a tunnel of raised lacrosse sticks held by others. And then they played Stanford, their rival, in a taut contest.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/sports/sports-cal-berkeley-covid.html