By Vanessa Bray (’21)
Houghton’s athletic department has had to make several adjustments for this unique sports season. From mandating masks for both games and practices, to routine COVID tests for all student athletes, coaches, and staff, Houghton athletics has had to adapt accordingly. Athletics Director, Matthew Webb, discussed some of the differences this season has brought. One of the main differences being that all sports, including those which would traditionally be in the fall or winter seasons, are being held in the spring. Webb explained, “Basically, we are doing all of our sports. Where we typically would do them in August through May, now we’re doing all of our teams in March, April, and May. So, that’s been a little challenging.”
According to Webb, one of the biggest challenges has been the balancing act for dual athletes. “In a normal year…,” says Webb, “If you’re a fall sport athlete and a spring sport athlete that’s pretty manageable. This year because we’re doing all of our sports in the spring, for those athletes that play for two teams, that has become much harder to balance and manage. There are some cases where a small handful of our student athletes are playing a lot of games in a short period of time…that’s a burden that isn’t easy to manage.”
To help mitigate this challenge coaches have made efforts to work with and support athletes involved in dual sports. Allowances and accommodations have also been made for those who have needed to prioritize their academics and take brief hiatuses from athletes. “Trying to meet the needs of the students in terms of what they need relative to their academics is something our coaches have been really good about,” says Webb.
All dual student athletes were given the option at the beginning of the season to participate in both of their usual sports or opt out of one. Dual athlete, Nathanial Zedomi (’21), who has taken part in both men’s soccer and track since freshman year, had to make the difficult decision to opt out of soccer this season. “Especially since I’m graduating, I’m bummed that I couldn’t do soccer this year…,” says Zedomi, “but if I want to be really good at track right now having played a soccer game the day before I go to run our meet is probably not a good idea. So, I had to pick one…that was super hard.”
Other challenges consistently faced by student athletes have been the anxiety of receiving a positive COVID test result, having to undergo quarantine (resulting in a week’s worth of missed practice), or accumulating enough COVID violations to result in being kicked off their respective teams.
The anxiety surrounding each week of testing has stirred uncertainty in the athlete’s opportunities to compete. Zedomi explains, “…if someone tests positive then we have a handicap on our team…you are always kind of on edge because you just never know. Every week we’re not sure if we are going to be able to compete that weekend…we’re kind of training and hoping that we can…but there is lots of anxiety around COVID testing…”.
Equally challenging has been adjusting to shorter practice slots, fewer games, and the absence of fans. Senior field hockey player Hannah Daniels (’21) comments that, “One of the most difficult things to adjust to is the lack of games we have this season…we usually play around 18 games a season, but this season we’re only getting 5. It’s disappointing not to play as many games as usual, especially since this is my last season…”
Despite these disappointments both Zedomi and Daniels expressed their gratitude for being able to compete again. “It’s frustrating but we’re just happy that we can…” says Zedomi. “I am very grateful that I have a season,” says Daniels, “and for every chance I get to step onto the field.” Although both Zedomi and Daniels have had less opportunities to compete their teams have had good results.
Given the unique circumstances Webb credits this season as a success. “We haven’t finished yet for everybody, but for the most part it’s been pretty successful. We’re still competing and we’re getting into playoffs for some of our teams…Some of our teams have done really well, some have struggled a little bit…Overall, it’s been a successful spring. As a department we sort of redefined success a little bit this year because of COVID, and one of our definitions of success was making it through the spring.”
Since most of the DIII conferences in New York state did not have conference seasons, Houghton’s ability to take part in a fuller conference season has been a morale booster.
“Our athletes and coaches have been great,” says Webb, “Not that there aren’t moments that are frustrating, but our perspective has been all along that we need to do whatever we have to do to compete again. We want to compete. The athletes, coaches, they just wanted to compete. If it means we have to wear masks all the time, we’ll wear masks all the time. If it means we have to test, we’ll test…our perspective was it was important to get back to competing and having a little of that routine again in terms of what we are used to and for many of the athletes the thing they love the most. They’ve done great. They’ve responded really well…We’ve had some bumps and hurdles along the way. We’ve had to cancel a game here and there…but for the most part they’re doing great and our vast amount of negative test results I think is a testament to how well we’ve done.”
Since New York state restrictions on spectating outdoor sports events has loosened, Webb encourages students to look out for the registration sign-up emails sent out each week and come support the teams as this unique season comes to an end! ★
