Tim Clayton – and the young hockey players he coaches at a London high school – will be back on the ice next week.
“It’s a big part of what we do as teachers, volunteer coaching,” he said Friday. “Definitely missed it.”
Hockey, basketball, wrestling, choir and other after-school activities are resuming in Ontario schools after a temporary pause when students returned Jan. 17 to in-person learning amid the Omicron wave.
The province announced the changes this week. Some low-contact sports that allow for physical distancing like tennis have been ongoing in schools, but close-contact sports were paused in January due to COVID-19 risk.
So far this season, Clayton’s varsity girls’ team at Mother Teresa Catholic secondary school has played exactly one game, and that was before Christmas. The players, who range from Grade 9 to 12, will practice Tuesday and play a game the next day.
“We kind of set up the week this past week to practice, to get back to skills and drills, and that’s across the board in all sports,” he said about the ramp up to something approaching normal. Players are still required to be double-vaxxed.
And how does Clayton feel?
“On a personal level, relieved that we have an opportunity to get back at it,” he said. “I think most coaches would say (there’s some rust to shake off).”
Singing and the playing of wind instruments have also not been permitted, but they will now be allowed.
The province said participants in sports and music activities still have to wear masks while on school premises, but they can remove them temporarily “where required,” while playing instruments or sports.
The changes in permitted school activities come weeks after students headed back to classes in-person, following two weeks online as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 caused cases to soar. At Mother Teresa, students are back to a regular semester of four periods a day.
Clayton is also the WOSSAA executive director. He says no decision has been made about the regional event, or OFSAA, its provincial counterpart, for the spring competitions that usually take place in May and June.
“The only thing that’s been ruled out is winter championships. No decision has been made about the spring ones,” he said.
With a file from The Canadian Press