Sports are back in session this fall at NDB. The fall season includes cheer, water polo, golf, tennis and cross country.
“I didn’t realize how much I needed sports until I couldn’t play them anymore,” said junior and JV water polo player Jenna Reynolds.
Many athletes are now familiar with the school’s COVID-19 guidelines for athletes and are becoming more comfortable with their sports policies.
“I started [playing] during the pandemic, so I was used to doing it with masks and social distancing,” stated junior and golf player Kendall Duffy.

“Before COVID, we had a lot of fun tournaments and spent a lot of time together as a team. During the pandemic, we did get those chances,” said Chloe Parkinson, a junior and water polo player.
Now that more people are getting vaccinated, things are slowly getting back to normal. So far, everyone is happy to be back in school and sports, even with the new rules made for COVID-19. Some of these rules include less social distancing.
“I started golf because my dad did it, and I started so I could spend time with him,” said Duffy. Playing golf with her dad is the main thing they do together, and she enjoys the time she is able to spend with her father, doing the sport.
“I swim because I love swimming, and it makes me happy,” said Reynolds. She enjoys swimming and that love of the sport is what got her started in water polo. She loves the teamwork and the new element of a ball and goal in the pool, instead of the simple laps that swimming includes.
“Both sports are super fun, and the energy on meet or game days, I would argue, cannot be beat by any other sport,” she added.
Each athlete had their own story on how they started the sport they play now. For example, Malia Tapp has “been doing indoor volleyball since [she] was in fifth grade at St. Tim’s.” She continued with the sport and started beach volleyball since it was very similar to indoor volleyball.
Others who just started out, like Jenna Reynolds, started the sport because their friends play water polo and would play during breaks over the summer.
No matter the age or experience, all of NDB’s athletes are strong in their own way. The sports year has only begun with fall and will continue with winter and spring.