Students, parents and coaches rally for a return to high school sports.

Mikaela Arista, a three-sport athlete from Alisal High School, is bummed she hasn’t been able to compete this year. But when she’s not in Zoom classes from home, she’s working at keeping her skills up, in basketball and tennis, and hopes to make it on to a college basketball team.

“I’m definitely sad we haven’t gotten the opportunity to play,” the 17-year-old senior says, “but I know everybody is doing what they can to make it happen.”

California has stricter guidelines than other states when it comes to school sports during the pandemic. Just as counties are in a tiered system – and Monterey County has long been in the most restrictive Purple Tier – sports are also tiered depending on the amount of contact athletes have. During the 2020-2021 school year, only Purple Tier sports were allowed to resume: Cross country, track and field, golf, skiing, snowboarding, swimming and diving, and tennis.

Jose Gil, Alisal High’s athletic director and basketball coach, says it’s been nearly a year since they had regular in-person training with athletes. Last October, they started volunteer-based conditioning for fall season athletes at Alisal after six months of sheltering-in-place, but stopped before Thanksgiving break because of rising Covid cases in the community.

Now, Gil says conversations with players have changed. At the beginning of the pandemic, he was focused on their conditioning, but now he’s more concerned about their overall well-being. “I’m not even focused on basketball anymore,” he says.

On Jan. 29, nearly 100 people rallied outside of Star Market in Salinas, chanting and carrying signs reading “let them play.” Parents and coaches in attendance say they worry about student athletes’ mental health and missed opportunities for college athletic scholarships, and were there to ask school districts and county health officials to allow school sports to resume.

“I’m definitely not in the shape I need to be for my sport,” says Gianna Perez, a wrestler at Notre Dame High in Salinas who attended the rally. “I feel I’m definitely going to be a step behind with nothing happening here in California.”

The Pacific Coast Athletic League canceled all games for the rest of the school year, citing the state’s tiering system. Athletic directors at Monterey County schools are exploring other options, such as holding county – or city-wide competitions.