By Owen Russell and Elijah Hamilton
In March 2020, Brooklyn College sports were put on hold, but now, after nearly two years of waiting, sports are finally back for the Bulldogs.
“Our athletes and coaches are excited to be back,” Associate Athletic Director Alex Lang told The Vanguard. “We have a lot of work to be done after this long hiatus, but we are looking forward to seeing our Bulldogs back competing.”
The return of intercollegiate sports is certainly exciting, but things are not back to normal quite yet. The COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on everyone and everything, and sports are no different.
“We have many protocols in place, most important all athletes are required to be vaccinated or receive a CUNY-approved exemption,” said Lang.
According to the CUNY website, those exemptions are limited to medical and religious reasons. Students applying for a medical exemption must submit a statement from a doctor, and students applying for a religious exemption must submit a written statement outlining how the vaccine conflicts with their religious beliefs. Even if a student is exempted, however, they still must follow school protocols.
“For those athletes with exemptions, there will need to be regular testing,” added Lang.
Even though teams are competing again and professional sports have welcomed fans back into stadiums, the return of fans at Brooklyn College will have to wait a bit longer.
“We are hopeful that at some point soon we will be able to allow fans, but at the start of the fall season our plan does not include fans,” said Lang.
Despite not being able to attend games, however, Brooklyn College fans can still keep up with the Bulldogs by following Brooklyn College Athletics on Instagram (@bklyn_bulldogs).
The sports season may look different from what we are used to here at Brooklyn College, but after such a long break, it is nice to see our Bulldogs compete once again. And one day, when we are hopefully screaming our heads off from the bleachers once again, we will look back and realize how big of a first step this was.