The impact of COVID-19 on sports
As St. John’s students head back to campus for the first time in 2021, there’s one question that everyone is dying to know the answer to-when will students get back to playing sports? Coaches and players continue to work with COVID restrictions, doing the best they can to prepare for a season that may or may not happen.
As a result of the DC government mandate, teams are not currently allowed to do any in-person workouts or practices, but St. John’s is giving athletes the opportunity to improve through online workouts run by the athletic trainers.
Varsity girls soccer coach Allison Diaz is hopeful and excited for a late season. “[They] have seniors who have been with [them] since day one…[and] also have young, eager athletes ready to compete in the area’s best conference,” Diaz said. The girl’s soccer athletes are committed to winning when they return to the WCAC.
Similar to soccer, the volleyball team has not been able to do anything since the beginning of December, but many are playing on a club team to stay healthy and grow as a player. Volleyball head coach Bill Pribac said, “It will definitely be different, but [he] think[s] they still will be competitive for the season.”
Although the freshmen volleyball players have had an abnormal start to their high school career, they had a chance to meet their other teammates and get to know them while workouts were still happening in the fall. Everything now centers around COVID-19 case numbers, and it’s no different with volleyball as they hope to have a senior night or a good fall season late this year.
This winter season, the Swim and Dive team was able to schedule a last minute meet for the first two weeks of February. Although they will be able to have some competition, head coachoach Chris Dunckel wouldn’t really call it a “season” due to the short time frame.
Before the Halloween outbreak at SJC, the Swim and Dive team had drylands workouts, allowing the Swim and Dive team to bond together as a team, and get to know one another. The dryland workouts were cancelled shortly after the outbreak. Swimmers have only been able to prepare outside of SJC, if they participate in club teams. Coach Dunckel believes COVID has made it a challenge for the non-club swimmers who rely on SJC practices to stay in shape and improve their times, and could see the team take a turn on their up-coming year, but it’s hard to say for sure.\
While the athletes of St. John’s will not get to play together like normal, the Cadets of all sports are doing their best to get better and train for the future
