St. Thomas sports teams have been practicing under certain guidelines since Sept. 21 after the MIAC postponed the fall and winter seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These guidelines include mandatory screening of players and coaches before each practice and practicing in small pods with masks on. Football trains in pods of 25 or less and soccer trains with 15 or less; indoor sports like basketball and volleyball work with fewer than 10 players at a time.
“We’re thankful that we are able to be out there,” women’s soccer coach Sheila McGill said. “There are a lot of teams that have had things shut down completely, so for us, we’ve been thankful we have not had a COVID case in our team yet.”
The Division III Administrative Committee advised member schools to not compete this fall, the NCAA announced in a statement on Aug. 20.
“Any competition this term in the current environment will increase the health and safety risks of not only our student athletes, but also coaches, staff and campus communities,” Tori Murden McClure, chair of the Presidents Council, said. “We also have concerns of the potential health care cost exposure for member institutions if a student athlete contracts COVID-19 through athletically related activities.”
Since the full roster cannot meet or practice in-person, teams have been using Zoom to conduct meetings.
“I think the guys are getting a little exhausted with Zoom meetings to be honest, as am I,” men’s soccer coach Jon Lowery said. “We’ve had to be flexible, we’ve had to be creative, but there is nothing that can replicate a training session with 33 players all in the same space.”
The football team is conducting contactless practices, but senior defensive end Alex Panos thinks this will better prepare his team and give players the opportunity to hone in on specific skills.
“When people see us practicing they’re like, ‘oh well you guys can’t hit, that stinks,’ but right now we have a really good time to focus on individual things,” Panos said. “We’re going to be really well prepared for when we do put the pads on and we’re able to hit.”
Women’s basketball coach Ruth Sinn is also excited to help her players on an individual level.
“This is a great opportunity for us to really go at another level and be very specific with helping our young ladies elevate their game, with their footwork and how we do skill development,” Sinn said.
After missing almost the entire 2019-2020 season with a knee injury, senior point guard Kaia Porter is thankful for the extra recovery time.
“It’s kind of a blessing in disguise, almost, to have these three months still before we start competition,” Porter said.
With St. Thomas moving two divisions next fall, teams are meshing DIII athletes with future DI athletes.
“Everyone’s in a little bit of a different space with this, and we’ve tried to be really respectful,” Lowery said. “It’s different for the seniors who are so disappointed that we aren’t playing games right now. It’s different for the incoming freshman that they’ve been recruited to be division I soccer players for us, and then you have a group of players in between that are kinda doing both.”
Sinn understands the importance and the responsibilities that come with this unusual season.
“Our motto this year is ‘part of something bigger,’” Sinn said. “If you look at everything that’s going on, you know we are going from DIII to DI, the understanding that we have that responsibility to make this last year in the MIAC and division III exceptional.”
Senior men’s basketball guard Burt Hedstrom understands that playing live basketball might be challenging at first, but he knows that every team is in the same boat.
“I wouldn’t say there is going to be a disconnect, but there’s definitely going to be a week or two transitionary period where we all haven’t played live basketball since March when our season got canceled,” Hedstrom said. “But we all know that all programs, all teams are dealing with the same issues, so just kind of take it week by week in that way.”
Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.