Photo Courtesy of Choate Flickr
The Founders League has canceled interscholastic play for the winter season, and many prep schools in New England are learning remotely throughout December. As such, Choate’s varsity athletes have made serious adjustments to their practices, while captains remain determined to uphold team morale and camaraderie. While a definite return to campus and in-person practices remain uncertain, these teams continue to push themselves physically using apps like CoachMePlus and team meetings over Zoom.
Varsity Swimming & Diving:
The Swimming and Diving team, Choate’s largest winter varsity team with more than 45 athletes, faces a multitude of Covid-related challenges. Swimmers must follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines; because they can’t wear masks while swimming, social distancing is key, so the pool can only hold 16 swimmers at a time. However, the team is hoping to work under these parameters, and will use this season to improve their skills as players and teammates. The team had a great season last winter and hopes to train this season in order to maintain that momentum for next year, when they hope competitions will resume. Zoe Tray ’21, Girls’ Varsity Swimming Captain, said, “I loved the team bonding activities and the meets in previous seasons, which I will miss the most this year. It is sad to think that I unknowingly competed in my last Choate meet ever last year.”
Boys’ Varsity Basketball:
Boys’ Varsity Basketball finished 8-16 last season, and the team graduated many of its most talented players last year, such as Ryan Zambie ’20, a former player on the Lebanon National Team. The team is looking to restructure its training program this season, which begins with player development through a combination of strength and conditioning, agility work, and individual skills such as shooting and dribbling. If all goes according to plan with a return to campus, the program will have to adjust to not playing any interscholastic games or even scrimmaging amongst themselves while continuing to improve.
Girls’ Varsity Basketball:
Girls’ Varsity Basketball was looking forward to a promising season, after only graduating two seniors. So far, the team has been working out at home individually, but Head Coach Mr. Donta Johnson has been crafting individual workouts for players who want them. Basketball is classified as a high-risk sport and will have to adapt to new protocols once back in person. Kayce Madancy ’22, a player on the team, said, “I think it will be very similar to what our open gyms looked like in the fall. Masks on, avoiding being near each other, and lots of skill development.” She emphasized how strange it was not to spend hours each day with her teammates, something she had grown used to in past years.
Varsity Wrestling:
Wrestling just might be the easiest sport to contract the virus from, given its face-to-face style of competition, so contact drills are on hold for the time being. Over the fall term, the team met twice a week for conditioning, shadowing wrestling, and watching wrestling films and documentaries. Throughout this winter term, the team has met once a week to discuss goals and keep track of their assigned weekly workout schedules. Upon a return to campus, the team would not be able to use the wrestling room, so they plan to continue their strength and conditioning skills alongside watching film. Team member Zayd Gonzalez ’22 said, “Wrestling is a tough sport but it builds some deep camaraderie, and even when we’re tired and sweaty knowing that everyone is feeling the same is reassuring and allows up to push further than we would alone.”
Boys’ Varsity Hockey:
Boys’ Varsity Ice Hockey began preparing for this unprecedented season by working on skill development and off-ice training six times a week throughout October and November. Head Coach Mr. Pat Dennehy said, “The team met via Zoom on December 9 to get some face time, talk about the workouts, and talk about what we will be doing moving forward.” Mr. Dennehy plans to bring various hockey team alumni to talk to the group, including Mr. Mathieu Darche ’96, Director of Hockey Operations for the Tampa Bay Lightning, which won the NHL’s Stanley Cup this year. Mr. Dennehy reflected on the pandemic’s impact on the sport, which negatively affected many of the seniors’ recruiting processes, since the NCAA allowed college senior athletes to return for another season, limiting the amount of space on a given team for incoming freshmen. However, the team has maintained a positive team culture. Mr. Denney remarked, “I think [team captain] Andrew Carmody ’21 summed up our mindset best when he said, ‘When the world is ready, Coach, we will be ready!’”
Girls’ Varsity Hockey:
Team captain Lexington Secreto ’21 “misses team bonding and being around some of [her] best friends.” She said, “there’s never a dull moment on GVH, and I miss the smiles and jokes we make when we’re together.” She hopes the team can be on the ice again and perhaps scrimmage with local Founders League teams, if Covid-19 guidelines permit it. The team has had meetings twice a week to concentrate on staying healthy and focused on their goals. When back on campus, the team plans to use all eight of the rinks’ locker rooms for social distancing.
Boys’ Varsity Squash:
When playing a normal squash match, like most other winter sports, it is virtually impossible to adhere to social distancing requirements. However, Boys’ Varsity Squash Head Coach Mr. Will Morris thinks that the team can still improve by doing lots of conditioning and solo practicing drills. The team has had weekly meetings to compete on one of the CoachMePlus assigned workouts that the players have been completing throughout the term. Unfortunately, solo practicing eliminates much of the camaraderie and fun of the team. Mr. Morris said, “Probably the part I miss most is seeing our seniors, many of whom are ‘home-grown’ products of our squash program, have the opportunity to represent themselves and their school on the varsity team.”
Girls’ Varsity Squash:
Girls’ Varsity Squash, coming off last year’s strong season in which they went 12-2, is looking forward to having a successful season, in whatever form it takes. Thus far, the team has “had one optional Zoom workout, and each player is working individually to stay in shape by doing a workout from the CoachMePlus app or following our training plan every day,” said Captain Supriya Chang ’21. Upon students’ return to campus, the team plans to follow similar guidelines to that of Intramural Squash in the fall, where players trained by having one player per court and worked on specific solo skills. Chang missed the team camaraderie aspect, saying, “We would play music and chat with each other on the bus rides to matches. It was overall a great team bonding experience.”
Varsity Archery:
Varsity Archery team Captain Elton Zheng ’22 has presented an interesting goal for the team: do one push-up every day. Zheng’s main goal isn’t necessarily to get his teammates to do more and more pushups everyday, though they are encouraged to do so if they can. Rather, the goal is to be consistent and not miss any days. “Archery is an especially long-term sport: sustained effort trumps intensity, always. But, I expect that both stamina and intensity will bring us success this season,” he said. Zheng explained that on campus, the practice building is designed to have 12 archers shoot at once with little space in between the posts. When students return to campus, the team will have to stagger the archers to shoot in groups while incorporating strength training in between shoots.
