El Paso area high school athletes get chance to compete after long COVID-19 layoff

For high school athletes around El Paso, the last few months dealing with the shutdown of sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult. 

Athletes have had to get creative at home with workouts to stay active. But in recent weeks some athletes from El Paso had the chance to go out of town to compete and there was a golf tournament in El Paso where some high school golfers competed. 

For softball players Lauren Garcia of Montwood and Yazzy Avila of Pebble Hills High School, the chance to play softball again with their travel teams has been a welcome sight. 

"It's been different at the tournaments for sure," said Garcia, who plays for Texas Glory Naudi U16. "In Oklahoma, we had to prepare for a game on a different field and then go to the game field. Fans were restricted in terms of where they could be watching the game from. We just had to be careful, be safe. It felt good to be back on the field. We lost our high school season, but at least now we've gotten the chance to play again and work on our game."

Avila played in a tournament this past weekend outside of El Paso with her teammates from a club team in New Mexico. 

"We didn't share equipment, we didn't shake hands like we normally do after a game and we had to be socially distant, of course, wherever we went," Avila said. "It's been a hard few months for every athlete. Getting back to playing is a good thing but it also took some time to get back into a rhythm. It's good to be around friends again and competing against others."

Track and field athletes Lauren Walls and Aries Mendez recently went to a meet in Arizona for their first live competition since mid-March. Walls competed as a distance runner and Mendez competed in several throwing events. Both attend Eastwood High School. 

"We had to wear masks, we got our temperature taken," Walls said. "It was a long time since I had competed but it was worth it. I ran well, I competed well. It was nice to be in a competitive situation again and be around other athletes."

Added Mendez: "I think for all of us who compete, It's been tough the past few months. Going to Arizona was a good thing and a positive step forward. I trained as much as I could at home, but it was nice to finally compete against others."

On June 12-14, the New Mexico/West Texas Golf Amateur was held at Horizon Golf Course with several El Paso high school and college golfers taking part. The three-day tournament was the first live sporting event in the El Paso area since March 15. 

Eastwood golfer Javier Delgadillo, Jr. has been one of the more active athletes in El Paso in terms of playing competitive sports. He has traveled to Arizona a few times to play in tournaments and is also expected to travel more this summer. 

Baseball tournaments have started taking shape around Texas as well and high school sports teams around the state have begun working out under restricted guidelines. Several El Paso high schools started June 15 and 16 and schools from Ysleta Independent School District are expected to begin in the coming days. 

"Hopefully things get better and we can have more sports as we move forward," Avila said. "We just have to continue to be safe and do all the right things."

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Felix F. Chavez may be reached at 915-546-6167; fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter.