This past February, the RMHS volleyball team held their first week of practices/tryout after getting pushed to the Fall 2 Season. 

In a normal year, the volleyball team plays in the fall season, which consists of the tail end of August through the end of November. The varsity team spent all summer preparing girls for their season and tryouts. But about two weeks before tryouts, their season was pushed to February. The girls were excited to begin play after about 15 months of preparing, until the devastating and aggravating news. 

The MIAA created new rules and regulations for games and practices which have been published on their site in order for play to begin and continue safely. One rule implied in their Volleyball Modifications Fall II 2021 is “Balls must be sanitized before and after each practice/game.”  An anonymous survey was sent out to all the girls in the program with questions regarding safety features, and  100% of the responses said that the coaches are following through with the safety protocols very well. Some responses on cleaning equipment were “All the balls get sanitized” and “Equipment is wiped down between each practice, and sometimes drills.”

Head coach Michelle Hopkinson said, “Equipment is sanitized after practice; hands are sanitized between drills.” The volleyball teams are able to have fun while staying safe. Knowing that the girls are using clean equipment with clean hands reassures families that their child is having fun being with their teammates and playing, all while staying safe and healthy. Volleyball has had zero COVID cases since they began, and are safely playing during these hard times. All sports teams at RMHS are required to do a COVID pool testing, and obviously the volleyball teams have to. These pool tests are to make sure no athletes come back positive and infect their team. 

The varsity girls practice 4 times a week, while JV and freshman girls practice 3 times a week. The usual 2-2.5 hour time for a practice has now been shortened to 1.5 hours. Despite the decrease in practice time, the three teams show up everyday ready to play and hungry to win. The effort put into playing and staying safe can be seen in their games. Girls wear masks, have chairs spread out for a bench, keep their distance in huddles, and don’t high five. But, this doesn’t stop them from still playing well. 

Each girl is allowed to have 2 guests at a game, and anyone else can watch games via RCTV’s live streams.