The spring sports season is finally here and tennis practices have commenced as of February 21st! This season will look much closer to a “normal” season than it did in 2021. Unlike last year when the pandemic resulted in a pool of teams limited to HPA, Makua Lani, Kealakehe, and Kamehameha, this year the pool of teams is back to its usual standing of 11 teams from around the Big Island.
Players have practice at the Mauna Kea courts Tuesday through Friday and leave the school at 3:15pm. At the moment, only the varsity half of the team—16 of the approximately 30 players—is practicing on all four days, while the other half attend practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Like last year, players are required to wear masks in the bus and down to the courts, but are allowed to remove them while playing. Usually practice ends around 5:15pm and everyone leaves the courts by 5:30pm.
Over the next 6 weeks, Parker’s varsity tennis team of 8 girls and 8 boys will compete against a total of 11 different BIIF participating high schools, beginning with an at-home set of matches against Waiakea high school on Saturday, March 5th. Matches will begin at 11 AM and take place at the Mauna Kea courts.
As of now, the rules regarding spectators are uncertain, as they will vary from school to school. It is clear that some spectators will be allowed, but some schools might choose to set a limit of two spectators per player for example. According to BIIF rules, all spectators are require to wear masks while watching matches.
Spectators are allowed at home games, but "I'm waiting for Mauna Kea to tell me if there are any guidelines they want us to go by besides the BIIF guidelines," says Coach Dunigan.
Be sure to regularly check the Parker Press and the Parker School instagram for continued updates. Also, side note, if you haven’t already, be sure to follow the Parker Press on instagram too! :)
This is the latest match schedule as of February 28th for reference.