Many schools were allowing a small number of fans, in most cases, a couple of fans per player from the home team. A few other schools allowed two fans per player from both teams. But there were a number of schools who were not allowing fans at all. The only people in the gym, besides the coaches and players were school officials and media members such as myself. This definitely took some time to get used to. It hit me the most at my first hockey game of the season, which took place at the Merrill Fay Arena in Laconia. Berlin-Gorham was in town for the game and the only people in the arena besides the coaches and players on the bench were a few Laconia-Winnisquam-Inter-Lakes parents who had been taking temperatures at the door, ADs from the schools, arena staff, the Berlin-Gorham bus driver and a couple of Berlin-Gorham players who weren't dressed. And me.
Probably one of my favorite quotes of the season came in the first round of the Division IV playoffs when Lin-Wood's boys' basketball team traveled to Woodsville to take on the Engineers. Both teams has played without fans all year, with the lone exception for each team being senior night, where families of the seniors were allowed to attend. In the tournament, two fans per player were allowed in the gym and you could tell that these fans had been cooped up at home, they came out excited and cheered from the first whistle to the last, making for a great atmosphere. After the game, Lin-Wood coach Matt Manning told me it felt like there was "1,000 fans" at the game. After a year of playing to nobody, 50 people or so probably did feel like a lot.
I am hopeful that the outdoor nature of the spring sports will allow fans to be back on the sidelines come April when those seasons start, but that's a story for another day.
It seems that the lack of fans throughout the winter sports season was just a way to get me ready for the trip to Tokyo this summer.
The Tokyo Organizing Committee announced over the weekend that no fans from outside of Japan were going to be allowed into the country for the Olympics. This is a huge blow to the many family members and friends who travel to see their favorite athletes compete on the world's biggest stage. But, sadly, I think it is a decision that the organizers had to make in deference to the COVID-19 pandemic and the health and safety of the Japanese citizens.
It is expected that Japan will not be finished vaccinating all residents who wish to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by the time that July rolls around and they are not requiring that athletes and other games personnel, such as media, have vaccines to enter the country. However, they are setting up strict guidelines for us to follow and it would be impossible to do the same for the hundreds of thousands of spectators that would be pouring in from outside the country.
No decision has been made on the number of fans that will be allowed in the stands come July, but only fans from inside Japan will be permitted, which I imagine will make things pretty quiet in many of the venues. Sure, if you have a Japanese team or athlete competing, there might be a good amount of fans in the stands, but if not, I bet it will be pretty quiet.
The time will come when everything is back to normal again. Count me amongst those that say that can't come soon enough. A quiet high school winter season was one thing. A quiet Olympics is something totally different.
No spectators from outside Japan will be permitted to attend the Summer Olympics in Tokyo when they kick off in July.
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