The game must go on!
October 9, 2020
What have you been doing to keep up with your sport while unable to practice?
Drill – Bryn Ament (12) 
“I’ve just been making sure I can still do all the skills we use in drill and trying to stretch often. I’ve definitely lost some flexibility, but I can still do all of my stunts, so that’s a win.
I’m a little bummed because I love the summer bonding activities we do, and football season is a great warm-up to our competitions. On the other hand, we aren’t being rained on during halftimes!
I was really hoping to go to state my senior year, and I know I’ve lost quite a bit of flexibility and strength which could hurt me if I end up wanting to dance in college. And the biggest toll is definitely on my mental health; drill is a great escape from stress for me and genuinely makes me really happy. I miss it a lot.”
Swimming – Naia Willemsen (12)
“I normally compete in both the high school competition and summer league. I haven’t been able to do either of these, so I’ve been lap swimming a few times a week for the past few months. I’ve also been doing other kinds of workouts on the side. I’d say I’m definitely not in as good of a swimming shape as I’ve been in past years, but doing something is better than nothing.
I look forward to the days when I get to swim, and I’d say that means it’s pretty successful. I’m sad, but I also understand that safety should be the top priority. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to have a sports season this fall, and I hope that in the spring I’ll get to participate again.”
Football – Freddie Weisbrod (11)
“I have been able to stay in shape because I practice with some of my teammates a couple of times every week. I have also been weight training from home since before quarantine, so that didn’t really change.
I understand why they delayed our season, and I want everyone to stay safe. But at the same time, as an athlete trying to get noticed by colleges, it can make it very frustrating because you can’t go out and show them what you can do.
The only thing that’s affected by not being able to officially practice with my teammates is that we can’t get work in with our coaches and can’t be thinking about next year or how we need to improve, so I think we’ll be underprepared coming into this season.”
XC – Nathan Shiosaki (12)
“For Liberty cross country, I know that quite a few students have been meeting in pods and running together. A lot of students are disappointed that they may lose a season. I personally want to be able to do all the fun traditions and the big meets, but understand that they most likely won’t happen with restrictions to ensure that we can have a safe season. I don’t think the lack of practice will do much besides making the early season harder for myself, but it will have a much larger impact on the freshmen and sophomores losing the experience that comes from getting practice and going to the big meets.”
Part of being an athlete is learning how to adapt, how to persevere when the going gets tough, and how to keep looking forward rather than dwelling on the things you can’t change.
Liberty might not be able to offer a fall sports season under the circumstances, but many club teams are demonstrating this sports-minded resilience and are making the necessary changes to keep their sport going.
The specifics of these changes can vary depending on the nature of the sport. For instance, non-contact sports such as rowing are having an easier time adjusting to social distancing.
“Our boathouse is one of the few rowing teams that are functioning regularly with practices every day because we have enough single-person boats for everyone,” junior rower Jaimee Ortega said.
But while this might seem like a simple solution, there are still many other precautions to be taken.
“We’ve been separated into two-time groups. Within each, half is on land and half is on the water,” sophomore rower Tori Derwin said. “We’re required to wear masks unless we are separated and outside, and we have new cleaning procedures too.”
Some of these changes, like wearing face masks, are standard among all the sports; if the athlete isn’t participating in rigorous exercise, then they are expected to wear a face mask. At the very least, this means when they are arriving or leaving.
Volleyball: “We can’t have everyone from the team play together because of the rule that only ten players can be in the gym. That means we can’t scrimmage or do any drills that involve more than 5 people because it’s five people per court. Overall it is definitely safer, so I don’t really mind.”
— Kaya Vong (11)
Another new policy that’s become uniform throughout club athletics is avoiding all physical contact.
“You can’t tackle, and you have to stay six feet apart,” senior soccer player Aaron McClelland said.
This rule, while imperative to the athletes’ safety, has proven to be challenging for many sports that rely on physical contact.
Your mind probably jumps to sports like football or wrestling—sports that are so dependent on physical contact that they are unable to practice without it. But physical contact is ingrained into so many other sports where even the participants might not have fully acknowledged its importance until it was gone. Now they are just having to make it work.
“Cheerleading has changed dramatically now that you’re not able to stunt because you’re six feet apart,” senior competitive cheerleader Alexis Tyler said. “I hate not being able to get a spot because I don’t want to hurt myself trying something new.”
The fact that coaches are unable to assist with new skills is one of the many challenges that athletes and coaches are having to deal with. Liberty’s student-athletes, however, aren’t dismayed.
Rowing: “I’m super grateful that we are able to even have training during the pandemic. Several other teams are either completely shut down or only letting their top rowers practice—and that’s only a few days a week.” Jaimee Ortega (11)
— Jaimee Ortega (11)
“These changes had to happen, or there would be no playing the sport,” McClelland said.
Athletes unanimously agree that they feel safer and that the new policies being implemented are effective.
“We haven’t had any new cases since the changes at the gym,” Tyler said.
So, while the new rules and policies that have been imposed since the quarantine began aren’t exactly ideal for sports teams, Liberty’s student-athletes have accepted this reality and are appreciative to have opportunities to keep doing their sport.
As a school that values sportsmanship, Liberty has ample reason to be proud of its athletes, whose commitment to their sport and their teammates hasn’t changed in the face of trying times.
