By Gabe Gross

After a year of quiet, fans are ready to cheer on their favorite teams.

How have you been recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic? Have you been having people over, or going to live sporting events? When COVID-19 took over our lives during the past year we weren’t able to do the fun things that we usually do. People were stuck inside forgetting the normal ways of life. Personally, I am looking forward to going to a Bradley University basketball game. During the start of the virus last year, nobody knew what was really going on. The outbreak interrupted many players’ training schedules. The season is now underway and there are real fans in the stadium—not cardboard cutouts! I can only imagine what some of the players are going through because last year their arena was as quiet as a mouse, but now with fans cheering, it must be a huge change for them.

I can relate to Bradley basketball players because my basketball games were streamed just like theirs during the first year of COVID-19. All my fans would tune in online watching and cheering me on. It wasn’t what we wanted, but it worked. The pandemic definitely disrupted sports but it never stopped them. My basketball season is starting up now, too. When I walked into my school’s basketball gym, I was amazed to see so many people in one place. There were moms, dads, grandparents, cheerleaders, coaches, and little kids. Even though masks are required, it still feels like a gathering that hasn’t happened in a long time and it’s good to be back.

About Gabe Gross 

Gabriel Gross is an eighth grader at St. Thomas school in Peoria Heights. He is the Student Council president. He plans to go to Richwoods and apply for the IB program. He loves baseball, basketball, and traveling. He also enjoys learning about history and how much it has changed our lives today.