Football games in Long Beach will take place Fridays for Friday Night Lights and on Saturdays but this year the public won’t be allowed to come watch the games.
Only a limited number of the players’ parents and close family members will only be able to attend games while also following safety protocols like social distancing and wearing face masks in the stands of course.
Not all Long Beach high school football teams returned this season, the Cabrillo Jaguars chose to opt out due to lack of players and getting student athletes medically cleared to play.
“I have trust in my team because I know what my team is capable of. They give their full potential in each game they play but with a long offseason it’s still my job as a coach to make sure the team is conditioning and still practicing,” said Wilson high school football coach Mark Ziegenhagen.
Wilson Bruins are one of the local high schools in Long Beach who had a victorious season during the year of 2019. They reached the CIF-SS Division seven quarterfinals and won ten games.
This year the Wilson Bruins are 3-1, with three wins and one loss this season putting them in the third spot for Moore League division.
“It has been a crazy season this year with COVID and since the return of sports so we want to build on this team and build on what we have and hopefully bring more talent on the roster and on the field,” said Ziegenhagen.
Despite only twelve seniors being on their roster, the Wilson Bruins won big on April 2 which was their senior night game.
Wilson high schools Athletic Director Jeffrey Evans said, “Some athletes at the school are still being recruited for college. We celebrate all the seniors who are going on to play any college athletic sports usually towards the end of May, and that is when we start compiling our list of all seniors going on to play any college sports.”
This year is a more challenging season and the reason for that is scheduling games and practices with so many teams and sharing facilities with sports being in season all at one time.
Evans said, “I am hopeful that the COVID numbers are continuing to decline and will get us back to normal going forward, and hopefully beginning in the fall 2022 things will be on a more traditional schedule for athletics.”
There is a less numbered amount of athletes playing this season compared to any of the other seasons.
All outdoor sports have returned this spring school year for high school athletes; football, water polo, tennis, golf, baseball, track and field, cross country, surfing, and lacrosse. In addition, indoor sports like basketball, badminton, volleyball and wrestling are now able to resume.
Due to a positive test with Poly high school football, the Moore League had to cancel and rearrange a game not too long ago.
But the reopening process continues with schools like Wilson High being slated to play against Lakewood High School Lancers at Lakewood on April 16.