Spectators and athletes at Calvin’s sports events will be free from COVID-19 restrictions this year. Due to increasing vaccination rates and decreasing COVID-19 cases in the area, COVID-19 protocols and regulations have eased and events across the country have slowly returned to pre-pandemic normal. Sports at Calvin are no exception. Masks are no longer required in the Van Noord Arena, and there are no social distancing or capacity restrictions. Coaches and players are no longer required to wear masks during practices and games, regardless of vaccination status. Players say it’s a welcome change.

“This year we have the most athletes ever in the Calvin athletics program, with 700 student athletes indoor and outdoor,” Assistant Director of Athletics Becky Hilgert said.  “COVID maybe has held back people from wanting to participate in the past, but now that we don’t have any technical regulations, student athletes are excited to feel like normal again.” 

The athletics program as a whole is excited to welcome more spectators and fans to Calvin’s indoor and outdoor sports. “There’s no restrictions or anything like that and I think people are ready to return to normalcy,”  Hilgert said. More spectators means more ticket sales, which may increase revenue for Calvin athletics, according to Hilgert.

Day-to-day life as a student athlete at Calvin is different this fall compared to fall 2021. “Last year there were a lot of heavy COVID protocols. We had to wear masks all the time if we weren’t on the court,” sophomore volleyball player Marliegh Beaker said. “This year those regulations aren’t there anymore.”  

As of right now, there are no official COVID protocol for Calvin Athletics. “Right now the coaches are doing whatever they think is necessary; there are no general athletic department regulations,” Hilgert said, “All coaches are telling student athletes to stay home if they are sick and simple, common sense stuff.” 

“It’s hard because we are such a big team, but our coach does all that she can to keep us safe,” Beaker said. “We work hard in doing the little things; if we’re sick we get tested, we wash our hands and we stay away from people who are sick.”  

Athletes are excited to return to their pre-COVID lives and feel safe doing so. “I am really excited to be back and everything feels like it’s pretty much back to normal,” senior volleyball player Theresa Kehn said. “The vast majority of my team is back, so I feel super safe around them and my coaches.”