As an athlete, it is tough being away from teammates and coaches. It is hard to stay motivated during these times. However, Union’s athletic teams have tried to remain active and keep their teams connected. Every team does it differently, but teams are finding unique ways to stay in touch.
Anna Venckus, senior business marketing major and soccer player, has stayed active during the quarantine. I asked her what it is like not being able to train with her teammates.
“It’s definitely a challenge when you can’t simulate a game environment like you can with teammates in practice,” said Venckus. “But you can still do fitness and bodyweight exercises, whether through the Volt app or other workouts.”
Venckus is lucky because her dad has trained her, so they have been able to go out to a local soccer park and work on goalkeeping skills to keep in shape.
The women’s soccer team has also had team meetings via Zoom where they got to catch up with one another.
“We talked about what we can be doing to stay sharp during this time. We can do physical exercises of course, and our coach is sharing bodyweight workouts through the Volt app,” said Venckus. “We are also encouraged to go back and watch game footage, either our own or of professional teams.”
For Courtney Ondrus, sophomore athletic training major and volleyball player, social distancing has made it tough to stay on top of the game. But Jonny Wilson, team strength and conditioning coach, has sent their team multiple different workouts to do at home to help stay conditioned.
“Right now it’s important to maintain the strength we worked on before having to go home due to the virus,” said Ondrus. “I’ve been doing the workouts we have been sent as well as taking time to go on walks/runs with my family.”
The volleyball team has also stayed connected via Zoom.
“Our coaches have been wonderful and have stayed connected with us and check in often,” said Ondrus. “We have had weekly Zoom meetings for our team Bible study that has kept us well connected as a team, and we keep in touch through social media and our group chats as well.”
Obviously this is not how this semester was supposed to go, but it is encouraging to see how our sports teams are still working hard to be at their best come next school year.
