As ACHS slowly attempts to return to normal and classrooms open back up, many athletes are still feeling as if their seasons have been tainted by COVID-19. For all high school athletes, this meant the spring season was over, leaving many yearning for a chance to get back on the field this fall. With many conditions not improving, the day that the fields will finally reopen seems further and further away. Because of this never before seen circumstance, many athletes needed to prepare in very different ways in order to cope with their season being pushed back an extra few months.
“At first, it was a little unsettling,” junior Andy Bowles said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle being off of football for an extra six months. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that I could take this bad circumstance and turn it into a great opportunity. All this meant was that I had six extra months to train and be that much better when the season comes, and I know a lot of my teammates realized it too.”
With some conditions beginning to improve, and thus some sports complexes opening back up, athletes from many different sports have taken this chance to discipline themselves, so they are better for the upcoming season. Whether it’s waking up early to get a few extra reps in, or finding new ways to train both mentally and physically, many athletes are beginning to test their bodies to find exactly what they need to do to elevate their skills.
“I wake up at the same time as I did last year for school, even though it starts an hour later this year,” junior Luke Dragin said. “Now that our baseball season got moved back to the summer, it gives me even more time to train. With school being pushed back, I now have an extra hour this morning to hit or pitch, whatever I believe I need the most work on. Without our season being delayed and school being pushed later in the day, I never would have realized the amount of extra time I could use honing my abilities. Sometimes in the world we live in right now, you just have to get creative, and eventually you’ll find something that really works.”
Many athletes hope that the extra time off will result in an even greater positive impact on their playing ability in the coming season. For many, these extra six months could mean a world of difference, especially as many begin or continue the college search. What athletes do with this time may determine a world of change in their near future.
“Normally about this time of year, volleyball season would just be starting to ramp up,” junior Hannah Benes said. “I really miss the sport and my team, but I have also realized that these next six months are going to be critical in my search to find a school to play volleyball for at the college level. That’s why, even though I have never ran cross country, I have decided to take part in the sport, as it will set up my conditioning to step onto the court at my absolute best”.
With many athletes beginning to find what they need to fine tune their skills, come six months time, plenty of sports will experience an explosion of brand new talent . Talent that may be a direct result of those who took the dire circumstance of our quarantine, and turned them into the best learning experience of their life.
