For the entirety of the 2020-21 school year, students participating in sports have been required to wear masks during practice, while some sports have even had to wear them during active play in games. 

As COVID-19 continues to affect De Soto High School and its activities, the De Soto School District has pushed students to wear masks during sports to prevent the spread of the virus. 

I feel wearing masks is a smart idea, because you have the freedom to get six feet apart to take off your mask and breathe for a short period of time. However, I don’t agree with wearing masks during games.

“I think wearing masks is still very much necessary but there comes a point, like games where you shouldn’t have to wear it,” junior Logan Boehm said

During games, while you’re in the middle of play, you don’t have an opportunity to take off your mask and breath. I myself, as well as many other student-athletes, find it very difficult to breathe in the midst of an intense game with a piece of cloth covering your mouth and nose. 

“I like that our district didn’t make us wear masks during games because it made it a lot easier to breathe and I didn’t have to continually mess with my mask like at practice,” Boehm said

During practice, I fully agree with the usage of masks. However, during games, I would say you work a lot harder and don’t focus on breathing as much. 

Although the number of cases may be lower than they were at the beginning of the school year, I still think that the usage of masks should only be worn at practice and not games.