Being a Student Athlete During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has no doubt put a damper on all aspects of life, especially college life. Multiple freshman student-athletes were really excited to start their collegiate athletics career across the country. Luckily for the student-athletes at Lasell, the university and athletics department were able to hold practices for fall sports. The NCAA and GNAC canceled games against schools, but the student-athletes at Lasell did not stop working at their sports. 

Practice looked a lot different from the pandemic of course. Coming from a personal point of view, it was rough but worth it to keep playing. 

Lasell Field Hockey practiced at 7 am (players had to be at the field between 6:45-6:50 am) and went until around 8:30 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Waking up early twice a week with roommates was a hassle for lack of a better term, but the realization came to many that waking up early and starting the day with a workout was a great way to start the morning. There was more energy for the rest of the morning, but some would crash in the late afternoon. 

The team had to wear masks for practice. Masks are a must for the pandemic, but exercising or playing a sport while wearing one is extremely uncomfortable. The masks became wet from sweating and heavy breathing. Coming from a personal perspective again, red hair dye got on the loops of the mask during play for a few weeks after dying it. Not fun. The team also took regular mask breaks with an appropriate distance to prevent the potential spread of the virus. 

The field hockey team had to stick to only conditioning and stick work for Phase 1. Working on conditioning and stick work is a must to become a skilled player, but it becomes slow and tedious after a while. Due to Lasell’s low numbers in infection rates, the team got to move into Phase 2 with more scrimmaging. 

Even though the fall season looked different than expected, the field hockey team had the ability to put on a virtual 5K to raise money for breast cancer. A team member’s mom had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. The $5000+ raised went to the family for any of their needs as they move into having a family member with cancer.

Student-athletes are anxiously waiting for the day that sports can resume normally, but they will participate in every way possible until then.