By Kazi Walker
The COVID-19 pandemic not only prompted the abrupt cancellation of the spring 2020 athletic season, but has also put a stop to fall sports training. Even though they cannot get together and practice in W.B. Mason stadium, the Stonehill Football team is finding new ways to stay connected and motivated virtually.
“We should be well into our spring practices at this point, but unfortunately, we never even got one in. As disappointing as this is coming off a great winter program, many of the guys feel even worse for the senior spring sports athletes,” said Ryan Weis, a junior on the Football team.
The spring season typically consists of practices a couple of days per week in March and April. These practices soon lead to their inter-squad Spring Game at the end of April.
“Spring ball is a time where players can showcase their abilities and their growth from our winter program, which hopefully leads to earning a starting spot,” said Tahji Valentine, a sophomore on the team.
However, players are not taking this time to slack off. Even though team members are disappointed, they have found other ways to continue to prepare for the upcoming fall season.
“Just because we can't physically get out on the field and practice as a team, doesn't mean we aren't going to keep preparing for the season. Just like classes moved online, we too have found a way to keep up with the agendas that allow us to grow as a team,” Valentine said.
The players and coaching staff make it a priority to stay connected with each other on a regular basis.
“We have meetings online and still have a lifting program that was modified to allow us to workout at homes due to the quarantine. All the coaches and players have been doing a great job with continuing to grow based on the circumstances given to us,” Valentine said.
Many student-athletes who will return to campus in the fall have faced different types of adversity in their selected sports, so this is just another obstacle to overcome. Athletes, such as the football players know what it takes to come back even stronger in the fall.
“Going into the fall it will certainly be weird not having the spring ball season, but we will be able to recover just fine. We’re sticking to studying our playbooks and as long as we have the schemes done come the fall we’ll be in great shape,” Weis said.
Instead of dwelling over the uncontrollable, many players learn how to dig deep in times like this and continue to push forward. It becomes powerful when an entire team has the same positive mindset.
“I believe however that this team has what it takes to be great and we will definitely overcome any obstacle that's put in front of us by controlling the things we can control,” Valentine said.
With the success the team had in 2019, they are eager for what is to come in 2020, despite their spring season being canceled.
“I am looking forward to continuing to build more off our previous season, but also just getting back together with the guys on the team. Times like these really prove to you how close we all are to each other,” Weis said.
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